Herbert Hoover’s Kirsten Belcher drives in a run with a double in the first inning Monday during the Huskies’ 9-1 win against visiting Bridgeport in the first game of their Class AA Region 2 softball championship series in Falling Rock. Craig Hudson | Gazette-Mail
By: Terry Fletcher | Posted: May 14, 2018 | Source: WV Gazette-Mail PREPS
The stakes keep rising for Herbert Hoover’s softball team, but the Huskies continue to answer the call.
Delani Buckner and Presley McGee combined for a two-hitter and Rebekah Woody crushed a three-run home run to power Herbert Hoover to a 9-1 win over Bridgeport on Monday in the first game of their Class AA Region 2 championship. The two teams continue their best-of-three series Tuesday at Bridgeport.
The defending state champion Huskies improved to 29-0 and are one win away from securing a spot in next week’s state tournament.
“We are one game at a time, with the end goal in mind,” said Hoover coach Missy Smith. “What we’ve done so far is great and we’re excited about it, but this game is over, and we’re focused on [Tuesday] right now.”
The two-headed monster of Buckner and McGee was virtually untouchable for the Huskies. Buckner allowed just one run on one hit and struck out five in four innings, while McGee surrendered one hit and struck out four in two innings of relief.
“They both pitched great and I could call pretty much whatever I wanted,” said Smith. They didn’t have many fat pitches and they didn’t give them any bases. Our defense kicked it around a little bit, which I’m not happy about, but we played through it and pushed through and came out on the good side.”
Hoover’s offense spotted Buckner to an early lead as Kirsten Belcher belted an RBI double in the first and Rebekah Woody smashed a two-out, three-run homer in the second to give the Huskies a 4-0 edge through two.
The Indians answered with a run in the top of the third, taking advantage of an uncharacteristic Hoover error. Bridgeport’s Laken Cook led off with a single, and Lydia Sandy laid down a sacrifice bunt.
Woody tried to get Cook at second, but her throw sailed into right field and Cook came around to score, trimming the deficit to 3. Buckner retired the next three Bridgeport hitters to end the threat.
After a scoreless fourth, Hoover shifted to some small-ball tactics in the bottom of the fifth. Taylor Carpenter led off with a single, promptly stole second and scored on a single by Megan Seafler to give the Huskies a 5-1 advantage. After fly outs by Woody and Mallori Chapman, Bridgeport starter Star Pope intentionally walked Belcher and McGee to load the bases, but got Cortney Fizer to fly out to center field to get out of the jam.
“I thought we needed to be a little more focused,” said Smith of her aggressive play-calling. “We were hitting the ball hard, right at them, and I just tried to make [Bridgeport] make some plays. You’re going to need to manufacture runs the longer this goes and you see great pitching, so we just worked on manufacturing runs and it worked out.”
Hoover put the final nail in the coffin in the bottom of the sixth, scoring four runs on three hits and two Bridgeport errors to claim the victory.
“The little things were the big difference,” said Bridgeport coach Larry Snider. “They took care of the little things, and we didn’t. You’ve got to make plays, you’ve got to cover your bases, and we just took an inning off there and it cost us. [Hoover] executed and did the little things. They were 28-0 for a reason.”
Pope, who missed the Indians regional appearance last year with an ankle injury, allowed nine runs on seven hits and struck out one in six innings. The Indians committed three errors.
While the Huskies are feeling the pressure of a 30-game win streak and shot at another state title, Woody said she and her teammates echo their coach’s sentiments.
“There’s a lot of pressure, but we handle it by taking it game-by-game and not thinking about the state title,” she said. “We want to win our next game.”
Buckner agreed.
“Our team has handled it really well, and we don’t really think about it. We take every game for what it is and try to come in strong and focused.”
Woody finished 2 for 3 with a home run and four RBIs, while Seafler went 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI, and Chapman and Carpenter each drove in a run.
Cook went 2 for 2 for the Indians.
