The second and third times, which largely came in the same inning, were a different story.
West plated 10 runs in the second inning, rolling Richwood in a 17-0 win in the Class A Region 3 Section 2 title game Thursday in Crawley.
The win sets up a best-of-3 regional matchup with Mount View that will begin May 19.
“We wasn’t real patient at the plate,” West head coach Stephen Price said. “We did take care of business and that’s what I tried to tell them. You come out and jump on these teams early that you should win against, usually they’ll lay down and it takes care of itself.”
After scoring a run in the opening frame and leading the bases loaded, West made sure to avoid that error in the second. So it responded by sending 16 batters to the plate in the following frame, using seven hits to push along those 10 runs.
The bottom of the order got the ball rolling with Ava Price reaching and Gracie Rhodes following with a walk. Brilee Redden hit a sacrifice fly to plate a run before the bats got going.
Diana Porter, Maddie Fields and Presley Treadway recorded hits in order with a Treadway double down the third base line driving in a pair. A fly-out temporarily slowed the roll before Kyndall Taylor notched an RBI single.
The Richwood nightmare continued with the bottom of the order reaching, setting the table for the top with Redden, Porter, Fields and Treadway all delivering an RBI each in their second plate appearances of the frame.
“I’m sitting there thinking, since Midland Trail we had really hit the ball well,” Price said. “Tonight, we’ve been preching putting it in play but there wasn’t anything hard in play. ”
The win caps a dominant sectional run for the Lady Cavs who run-ruled Webster County on Tuesday and have currently outscored their postseason opponents 38-0. The next challenge at hand will be combatting an 11-day layoff ahead of regionals. But Price already has a plan for that, utilizing the WVSSAC’s rule that allows softball teams to play games against opponents that are still playing between sectionals and regionals.
“I’v already been in contact with Wyoming East today about getting a game with them next week,” Price said. “I had actually been in contact with the three (Midland Trail, James Monroe and Liberty) on the other side of that region. Hopefully we play two next week. We’re looking at nine, 10 days off and you’ve got to stay sharp.”
West has not faced Mount View, the Section 1 winner, this season.
“We tried to play them and we couldn’t” Price said. “I know Mount View has a girl (Phoebe Dudgeon), she throws the ball decent enough and of you’re not ready to play she’s going to strike you out.”
Maddie Fields led West with four hits and four RBI Thursday while Presley Treadway notched three hits and four RBI as well. Starting pitcher Kyndall Taylor fanned six batters, going over 100 strikeouts for her career.
