MORGANTOWN — Morgantown High and Wheeling Park’s softball seasons have been defined by limiting mistakes in the field, and that trend carried over into the Class AAA Region I playoff series.
In a Game 1 loss, MHS bobbled routine grounders and dropped pop-ups.
Roles were reversed in Game 2 on Wednesday at Mylan Park, with the Patriots collapsing defensively in the sixth inning. That allowed the Mohigans to score all their runs in a 6-1 win that forced a decisive Game 3 today in Wheeling.
“At this stage in the game, errors like that cost you,” Morgantown coach Lorri Lipscomb said. “We had like six errors [in the opener] and then you see what happened to them tonight. I’m proud of the way we stayed the course and we played well defensively and fought back at the plate.”
Ashley Linder, coming off a complete-game victory in Game 1, was back in the circle for Wheeling Park (12-11). She carried a shutout through five innings, aided by her own relay throw from centerfielder Kelsey Chacalos to nab MHS runner Mahalie Moser at the plate.
It started to fall apart in the sixth inning, as Breonna Marietta led off with a double for the Mohigans (19-7), followed by an error and a single that loaded the bases. Then, Lillian Kooser hit a dribbler in front of the plate that the Patriots threw away, allowing two runs to score.
When four more runs followed on two more miscues, Linder was staring at a 6-1 deficit though only one run was earned.
“It’s uncharacteristic of the way we’ve been playing,” Wheeling Park coach Pat Durkin said. “We’ve actually been pretty tough defensively lately and we played the first five innings really well.
“Both teams put pressure on you defensively, but for some reason, we just cracked. The got a couple sneaky hits and that cost us.”
With today’s winner-take-all game, Morgantown is looking for its first state tournament appearance since the program began in 1996.
Lipscomb wants her team to set the benchmark.
“Before every game, I tell them that they have a shot to make school history,” she said. “They’re already doing it and I want them to know that they can add to it. So if we continue to play together, we can do this.”
Morgantown’s Grace Haines earned the win, throwing six innings and allowing one run on three hits.
Wheeling Park, hoping to return to the state tournament for the first time since 2016, has never won a title. Hurricane owns five of the last six Class AAA championships.
