MORGANTOWN – The University High School softball team finds itself in familiar waters after punching its ticket back to the state tournament on Thursday night with a 7-0 victory over Washington on Lynch Field at Mylan Park.
UHS senior Sophia Lehosit tossed a two-hit shutout in the circle, while fellow senior Adalyn Brown continued her streak offensively, driving in three runs for the Hawks.
With the victory, UHS will return to Little Creek Park in South Charleston for the 2026 WVSSAC state softball tournament June 2-4. The Hawks finished as Class AAA state champions in 2024.
“That was a great win for us,” UHS coach Mindy Parks said. “Sophia pitched one of her best games of the year. She got ahead in the count throughout the game and battled back when she got behind. We wanted to jump ahead early and score in the first inning to set the tone, and we did just that.”
A sacrifice fly by Lehosit opened the scoring for UHS in the first. The Hawks added two more on a fielder’s choice by Brown and a base hit by junior Lexi Elza.
Lehosit struck out the side in the second inning before the Hawks added some more insurance with three more runs in the bottom half.
UHS kept the Patriots in check with only one base runner throughout the next three innings, then cushioned the lead with another run on a wild pitch, allowing Brown to touch home.
Washington finally found another base hit in the seventh inning, but couldn’t add to it as University triumphed 7-0 in a rematch of the 2024 state championship.
University joins Cabell Midland, George Washington, and crosstown rival Morgantown as four of the eight teams that will compete for the Class AAAA state tournament June 2-4 at Little Creek Park in South Charleston.
BOX SCORE
University 7, Washington 0
WASH 000 000 0 – 0 2 1
UNIV 330 010 X – 7 4 0
University (22-5) – Campbell 3200 Shaver 1210 Lehosit 3112 Masoner 4100 Brown 2113 Elza 2011 Cox 2000 Voithofer 3000 Casino 3000 TOTALS 23 7 4 6
Washington (15-8) – Musser 3000 Valentine 3010 O’Hara 3010 Burns 2000 Clark 1000 Smith 2000 Benner 2000 Clayton 2000 Ranck 2000 Hardy 2000 TOTALS 22 0 2 0
W: Lehosit 7.0ip 2h 0r 0bb 11k
L: Smith 1.0ip 1h 3er 2bb 1k
