Petersburg third baseman Miley Tingler was named casptain of the first team among Class AA All-State softball selections. (Photo provided)

Talk about a strong left side of the infield.

Class AA state champion Petersburg certainly had it.

Now that side – third baseman Miley Tingler and shortstop Shyane Tawney – leads the Class AA All-State team, released Wednesday by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.

Tingler was named captain of the All-State squad after leading the Class AA state champion Vikings with a .574 (54 for 94) average with 17 doubles, six triples and 12 home runs. She scored a state-leading 69 runs and drove in 48 more.

Tawney hit .439 (47 for 107) with six doubles, two triples, 48 runs and 22 RBIs.

The duo started 14 double plays this season.

It was, coach Bubba Hedrick said, by design.

“We didn’t have the hardest throwers on our (pitching) staff so figured a majority of the balls were going to be hit to the left side,” Hedrick said. “With those two on that side it really solidified that side of the infield, and it really was a strength for us because of it.”

Tingler was especially effective in the state tournament where she was 9 for 13.

“She just plays hard,” Hedrick said of his junior standout, who had 35 extra base hits of her 54 total hits. “She had a knack for turning singles into doubles, and doubles into triples because of that.”

Tawney was the same. The leadoff hitter, she set the table.

“We had a saying, ‘How Tawney goes, we go,’ because she hit leadoff and when she got on everything seemed to just fall into place for us,'” Hedrick said.

Other infielders on the first team include Aspen Dyer of Lincoln (.432, four home runs, 27 RBIs, 13 stolen bases), Brooke Dehaven of Doddridge County (.481, 15 for 106, 13 doubles, two triples, two home runs, 49 runs, 18 RBIs) and Ava Sampson of Scott (.412, 10 home runs, 39 RBIs and she walked 31 times).

The talent pool at catcher was so deep in Class AA, two spots just wasn’t enough.

So, another was added.

The trio of Sissonville’s Lydia Ellis and independence’s Ava Parks and Petersburg’s Ella Chew were named catchers on the squad.

Chew hit .450 with 15 doubles, five triples and seven home runs. She scored 47 runs and drove in 49 and had 13 multi-hit games.

“I’m really happy for her, she had been second-team the last two years and she worked hard every off season to get better,” Hedrick said of the Potomac State signee.

Ellis helped Sissonville reach the state tournament by hitting .494 with 40 hits, including 10 home runs. She drove in 50 runs.

And she called every single pitch for the Indians this season.

“She is an awesome kid, and she is one of those players the other kids look up to,” coach Travis Hill said. “And we do leave all the pitch calling to her. We (coaching staff) be==never called the first pitch this year. And she did a heck of a job. She just knows the game so well.”

Parks, who has started all 105 games Indy has played during her career, hit .516 with 63 hits, including 13 doubles, five triples and three home runs. She scored 46 runs and drove in 33.

Parks struck out just three times in 135 plate appearances and has just eight strikeouts in 393 plate appearances in her career. She has 170 career hits.

“I’m not sure you can put into words what Ava does for us,” coach Ken Adkins said. “The obvious thing is at the plate and being so reliable. She just wills her to win at bats (she didn’t strike out her entire sophomore season and took the streak into this season). She is also a stabilizing force for our pitchers, and she understands how to call a game.”

The pitching staff is led by senior Myleigh Adkins of Logan, Mattie Carney of Oak Glen and Ellis’ battery mate at Sissonville, freshman Josey Wilson.

Adkins was 18-4 in the circle with 278 strikeouts in 141 innings. She also hit .423 with 10 homers and 32 RBIs.

Carney was 14-8 with 191 strikeouts and an earned run average of 2.26.

Wilson 23 wins and she finished with 338 strikeouts and only gave up 20 earned runs in 142 2/3 innings (0.87 ERA).

The outfield is led by Independence’s Jenna Joyce, a three-time first-team all-stater, who led the state in RBIs with 61. She hit .472 (52 for 108) with12 doubles, a triple and 11 home runs. Joyce scored 41 runs.

Joyce was huge for the Patriots after transferring in from rival Shady Spring last summer.

“I had a great talk with her early in the season,” Adkins said. “I showed her our pitch chart and how we pitched her when she was at Shady. Kanzi’s (Pierce, one of the Patriots pitchers) best pitch is a screwball. We would run that thing in on her hands and she couldn’t get in position to barrel it up. I told her she needed to demand that pitchers throw strikes (by being more selective). I told her the Barry Bonds story. When he was hitting all those home runs (a Major League record 73 in 2001). When they threw him a strike, he hit it out. I told her,

‘That has to be you.'”

Midland Trail’s Maddie Rader was also named to the outfield after hitting .458 to lead the state tournament-qualifying Patriots. Rader had 54 hits with 10 doubles, scored 26 runs and drove in 22.

The utility spots went to Rader’s teammate Stephanie Harrell (12-5 won-loss record, 147 strikeouts in 124 2/3 innings and a 2.30 earned run average as well as hitting .389 with 10 home runs, 31 RBIS and 12 runs) and Weir’s Eliza Utt (17-8, 178 strikeouts and only 18 walks in 142 1/3 innings and a .525 average with 13 doubles, four triples, two home runs 36 runs and 39 RBIs).

Ashlin Brumfield of Class AA runner-up Logan was captain of the second team.

Wooden plaques in the shape West Virginia that include the player’s name, school, licensed WVSWA logo, year of the honoree are available to all-state first team, second team and honorable mentions and can be purchased at from the Bear Wood Company through WVSWA.org or Bearwoodcompany.com.