Herbert Hoover’s Kirsten Belcher (13) slides in safely as Chapmanville third baseman Jenna Barker stumbles backward after a collision at the bag. Craig Hudson | Gazette-Mail
By: Ryan Pritt, Prep Sports Reporter | Posted: May 24, 2018 | Source: WV Gazette-Mail
VIENNA — For weeks, the zero in Herbert Hoover’s loss column gained mounting attention from everyone surrounding the Huskies program, but players and coaches were mum on the subject.
After Delani Buckner’s strikeout of Chapmanville’s Kara Browning to end an 11-1 five-inning conquest of the Tigers in the Class AA prep softball state title game on Thursday afternoon, the tears and the words came pouring out.
“I can talk about it now,” Huskies coach Missy Smith said. “The thing about undefeated seasons, you really can’t celebrate them ‘til they’re over. I spent the whole year waiting for the ball to drop and Cinderella to wake up or whatever you want to call it, and the girls just didn’t let it happen. They came out focused every game and there were different games and different situations — it didn’t matter. They got it done every day.”
And they certainly did on Thursday as the Huskies roared back from an early 1-0 deficit to put an emphatic punctuation mark on a 33-0 season and a second straight state title.
Both teams had to endure a crazy Wednesday schedule that saw the teams finish a winners-bracket game past midnight into the wee hours of Thursday morning, with Hoover eventually prevailing 1-0.
That forced Chapmanville to come back to Jackson Memorial Park for an early-morning elimination game against Petersburg, one in which the Tigers (22-5) prevailed for an 11-1 win.
But between an extremely long day on Wednesday and the early tussle with the Vikings on Thursday, Chapmanville looked gassed, and played like it after staking claim to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Hoover answered with three runs in the bottom of the first, highlighted by an RBI double by Presley McGee, and the Huskies never looked back.
“If we don’t answer there, it’s a totally different game,” Smith said. “If we don’t answer and score it could’ve been a 1-0 game again.”
Instead, the Huskies chased Chapmanville ace Kenzie McCann in the second inning, plating six runs in the frame, and Buckner did what she did nearly the whole tournament — hang zeroes. In 19 innings in the state tournament, the sophomore hurler gave up just two runs, struck out 29 and walked one. In two of those games, including Thursday afternoon’s finale, Buckner said she didn’t have her best stuff.
“My ball wasn’t spinning as much as I’d like it to,” Buckner said. “But can you really complain about having the best defense ever having your back and the best offense pounding the guts out of the ball?”
Buckner was a big part of the offense, lacing a pair of RBI singles in three at-bats. McGee was 3 for 3 with two RBIs as well.
The two sophomores dominated things in the circle all season, and though McGee wasn’t used as a pitcher in three games in Vienna, her bat was an integral part of the Huskies’ run.
“I’m so thankful for the opportunity to be on such a great team,” McGee said.
The Huskies have emerged as the new team to beat in Class AA, and this season nobody got the job done, not even once. Hoover won its first state title in 2014, but will now return six starters next year, including its top two pitchers.
“I thought we had the chance to do this when we were fortunate enough to win it last year,” Smith said. “I’ve been blessed with good pitchers. You always want to go undefeated, but you don’t ever plan to. It’s super special.”
Still, several players toed the company line when talking about an undefeated season after the game. McGee did. So did Buckner … at first.
“We never really talk about it to each other, but it crosses our radar, obviously,” Buckner said. “It’s just awesome we pulled it off. It’s just all our hard work paying off. To be able to say that is very, very special.”
McCann, who helped Chapmanville win a state championship as a sophomore and took the Tigers to back-to-back title-game losses to Hoover the past two seasons, was completely worn out and looked on from the dugout as the final few innings dwindled away. In the top of the second inning, down 3-1, McCann hit a fly ball into left field that was dropped by Hoover’s Ava Young, which would’ve given the Tigers runners on first and second with two outs.
But McCann and the Tigers’ first base coach both claimed an umpire called her out, so by the time the ball came back to the infield, McCann was already back to Chapmanville’s dugout. Hoover threw the ball to first base, where she was ruled out. It was a microcosm of what was a long day and a long tournament for Chapmanville.
“What can you say?” Tigers coach Ronnie Ooten said. “Some of our kids were hurt or tired — they’re all tired, we’re all tired — you’re out here at 1 o’clock in the morning last night and got to come back today and try to play two games, three if we’d beat them. This thing was all out of whack this year.”
Kara Browning doubled for Chapmanville and Jade Freeman finished 2 for 2 with a double and an RBI.
In the aftermath, every member of Hoover’s enormous crowd was invited onto the infield for a group picture. A community ravaged by massive flooding two summers ago was brought together by the Huskies’ magic run to a state championship last year. The success may have continued and even escalated this year, but judging from the turnout over two days in Vienna, the feeling is still pretty magical along the Elk River.
Even Smith, the consummate coach who was awarded a plaque for winning the 2017 state softball coach of the year before the game, allowed her emotions to show through for a moment.
“The biggest compliment my girls pay to me,” Smith started, taking a moment to compose herself, “… is that they trust me and believe in me and when we tell them things they believe. My assistant coach Jamanda [Rollyson] has had them in the cage for five days and working their hitting and their bats were alive in the tournament — I’m just so proud of them for that.”
Reach Ryan Pritt at 304-348-7948, ryan.pritt@wvgazettemail.com or follow him @RPritt on Twitter.
