SOUTH CHARLESTON – For three and a half innings of Wednesday night’s elimination game between No. 2 University and No. 6 Parkersburg South in the Class AAAA state softball tournament, the Hawks’ offense seemed like it stayed at the hotel.
But trailing 1-0 entering the bottom of the fourth inning, UHS turned the game around completely with a five-run rally to steal the lead and carry it through to the final out in the seventh inning, earning a 7-1 victory and a spot in Thursday morning’s elimination game against No. 3 George Washington.
Senior duo Sophia Lehosit and Maddie Campbell gave a combined effort in the circle. Campbell entered the game in the fourth inning in relief of Lehosit and tossed 3.2 innings of hitless softball with seven strikeouts.
In 17.2 innings at the state tournament, Campbell has allowed only three hits and one walk in
three games in the circle and collected 32 Ks in the process.
She has also done damage offensively for UHS this week and had a hand in three runs on Wednesday night (2 RBI, 1 run scored).
Freshman Taylor Casino led the way for UHS at the plate with a trio of base hits, two RBI, and one run.
After a single and a strikeout to open the bottom of the fourth, the Hawks loaded the bases for Casino, who singled home the tying run.
Carly Voithofer followed with a single of her own, scoring two more runs and giving UHS its first lead of the evening, 3-1.
A groundout brought Campbell to the plate, and she delivered with a double to center field that brought in another pair of runs for the Hawks, who opened a 5-1 advantage.
“After dropping the first game this morning, our girls showed a lot of resilience in the way they responded,” UHS head coach Mindy Parks said. “Rather than dwelling on the loss, they stayed positive, trusted their preparation, and came back ready to compete for two more games. Their ability to regroup, stay focused, and play with confidence helped us stay alive.”
Campbell sat down the Patriots in consecutive batters in the fifth, and reciprocated the task in the sixth as well.
Sandwiched between those two half-innings was the Hawks scoring its sixth run, and finally, its seventh in the sixth inning.
UHS will continue on to Day 3, where they will battle No. 3 George Washington in an elimination game, with the winner advancing to battle Morgantown in the Class AAAA state championship.
BOX SCORE
University 7, Parkersburg South 1
PHSH 100 000 0 – 1 4 1
UHS 000 511 X – 7 10 3
University – Campbell 3112 Shaver 3010 Lehosit 4010 Masoner 2001 Brown 3210 Elza 4120 Casino 3132 Voithofer 3112 Cox 3000 TOTALS 28 7 10 7
Parkersburg South – Corbin 4000 Shelton 3100 Hays 3010 Mackey 3021 Vargas 2000 Moon 3000 Curfman 3000 Pickens 1000 Windland 3010 TOTALS 25 1 4 1
2B: Mackey (2)
W: Campbell 3.2ip 0h 0er 1bb 7k
L: Shelton 6.0ip 10h 7er 3bb 7k
