ELM GROVE – One mighty swing of the bat propelled University High to its first-ever OVAC 5A softball championship on Thursday evening in Wheeling.
With the second-seeded Hawks (20-5) trailing No. 1 John Marshall 1-0 in the top of the third, the Monarchs (23-5) elected to intentionally walk Sophia Lehosit – who had doubled off the fence in left in her first at-bat – to load the bases for cleanup hitter Olivia Masoner.
One of four seniors on the team, the catcher sent a 1-0 pitch to deep center field for a grand slam. An unearned run in the fourth led to their 5-1 victory on Lisa’s Field at the I-470 J.B. Complex.
“It sounds great,” University High head coach Mindy Parks said of being the Class 5A champions. “This is my group. They won the 2024 (W.Va. Class AAAA) state championship as sophomores. Now they’ve added another milestone, which is super awesome for them. They deserve it. They’re a great group of girls.
“We’re getting ready for our regional tournament next week, and this is a great way to lead up to it,” Parks added.
Masoner was just looking to help her team get on the scoreboard.
“I had a big smile on my face. I was ready to do some damage and score runs for my team,” Masoner admitted. “I was just sitting there in the (batter’s) box waiting for that first strike to come. I knew it was gone as soon as it left my bat.
“It feels really good,” she said of the first OVAC softball championship in program history. “It was a good way to end this week and get ready for next week.”
John Marshall, ranked No. 1 in W.Va. Class AAA, took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second.
Ella Finley’s pop-up down the line in left fell just inside the foul line, and Paislee Babiczuk ripped a double to the fence in right-center that allowed Finley to circle the bases for a 1-0 lead.
Babiczuk moved to third on the throw home, but would advance no further.
In fact, John Marshall would only get two more baserunners – both on walks – as Lehosit retired 18 of the final 20 Monarchs she faced. The righty struck out 12 and walked three.
“We’ve been hitting the ball really well of late, but we just didn’t do that tonight,” John Marshall head coach Rob Blake said. “For some reason tonight, we just couldn’t make contact.
“One pitch was the game, but I’d do it the same way again,” Blake said of his decision. “There’s nothing we could have done any differently. I thought Lily (Dijkstra) pitched a really good game. She didn’t strike very many people out, but she got them to hit the ball on the ground a lot. She did her job.”
The grand slam came with two outs after Maddie Campbell singled and Maddie Shaver reached on a check-swing single. Lehosit walked before Masoner went yard.
University, ranked No. 2 in W.Va. Class 4A, is the top seed in the W.Va. Class AAAA North Region and will meet the winner of Martinsburg-Wheeling Park.
Meanwhile, the Monarchs will re-group as they enter postseason play as the No. 1 seed in the Class AAA Region I bracket.
“We’re still in a good spot. We only need a couple of wins to get to Charleston, and then we’ll take care of our business down there,” Blake noted.
BOX SCORE
University 5, John Marshall 1
UHS 004 100 0 – 5 7 0
JM 010 000 0 – 1 2 1
University (20-5) – Campbell 4130 Shaver 3110 Lehosit 2110 Masoner 3114 Elza 3000 Brown 3000 Casino 3110 Voithofer 3000 Cox 3000 TOTALS 27 5 7 4
2B: Campbell, Lehosit, Casino
HR: Masoner
John Marshall (23-5) – Shock 2000 White 3000 Inclan 3000 Lilley 3000 Finley 3110 Babiczuk 2011 Taylor 2000 Dougherty 2000 King 2000 TOTALS 23 1 2 1
3B: Babiczuk
WP: Lehosit 7.0 ip 2h 1er 3bb 12k
LP: Dijkstra 7.0ip 7h 5r 2bb 1k
