St. Marys head coach Lacy Riggs higher-fives Breanna Value right after Value scores the initially run in Blue Devils’ six- win more than Petersburg Thursday in a W.Va. Class A state tournament elimination game in South Charleston, W.Va.
(Photo by Kerry Patrick)

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — St. Marys junior Breanna Value is reaping the added benefits of prior encounter at the state level in each girls basketball and softball.

Friday morning in an elimination game at the Class A state softball tournament, Value ignited the Blue Devil offense with the team’s initially hit and initially run in a six- win more than a Petersburg outfit which defeated St. Marys twice for the duration of final year’s state tournament.

Value also began for the St. Marys girls basketball group generating a repeat look at the state tournament just before Petersburg as the sixth seed knocked out the Blue Devils in the opening round.

St. Marys (30-five) sophisticated to the championship stage scheduled for later in the afternoon needing to win twice against Wahama, which was 30-five prior to the matchup.

“Beating Petersburg is anything we are extremely proud of,” Value mentioned. “We knew we had to come in and hit. We all had been extremely pumped up and that helped us keep in the game. Awe place the bat on the ball and very good issues occurred.”

Seven of St. Marys’ beginning nine contributed at least one particular hit to the nine-hit attack, such as two apiece from Value out of the No. 7 hole followed by Autumn Mossor in the eighth spot.

Mossor, the daughter of St. Marys coach Lacy Riggs, played her initially game in the state tournament. Each Mossor and Value each and every drove in one particular run. Also in the reduce half of the order, Baylee McGrady tripled dwelling two runs in a 4-run fifth inning which completed the scoring for the Blue Devils.

Value, who batted lead-off for a majority of the season, was bumped down the lineup as a suggests of kick-beginning a St. Marys attack which went cold in the latter aspect of the season top up to this week’s till the state tournament.

“Our bats, we have been quite hot as lengthy as we preserve them rolling,” Riggs mentioned. “We have produced a couple of alterations. Autumn didn’t have an at-bat this tournament. The youngsters are adjusting, carrying out what they are supposed to do and pulling by means of.

“With girls like Breanna, that offers us a versatile batter toward the bottom of the order. We are in a position to make far better use of her talent down there.”

Value also was on the getting finish of a Petersburg baserunner caught stealing at second base.

“Myself, I’ve been going into the batter’s box considering jump on the initially pitch,” Value mentioned. “Get a very good hit on one particular you can deal with and sent it.

“This year we haven’t had the nerves. Final year, we didn’t know what to anticipate.”

Cali Masters earned the win right after throwing six innings of shutout ball with 3 hits permitted and ten strikeouts. She struck out nine Vikings in the initially 4 innings.

“Yes, we saved an inning and Ella came off the bench and was also stellar out there,” Riggs mentioned. “That’s known as teamwork.”

Coach Riggs saved an inning for Masters in case St. Marys forced a second game against Wahama. Fellow southpaw Ella Smith, the lone senior on the Blue Devil roster, necessary just 12 pitches to strike out the side in order in the major of the seventh inning.

Taking the loss for Petersburg was junior Sammy Colaw, who walked two and struck out seven. The Vikings close out the season at 26-ten right after playing by means of a non-quit schedule with only ten players in uniform.

“Honestly, I am so thankful for an outstanding year,” Petersburg coach Bubba Hedrick mentioned. “I really feel blessed that we got right here. We knew we had been extremely brief in numbers and extremely young. We actually scraped to get ten youngsters this year. It was just an odd year for us.

“We knew something we got right here was a cherry on major. We really played a couple of games this year when we only had nine. We had been nervous the complete year, but we got a lot of mileage. We played a lot of games.”

Petersburg, which was held shutout for the final 12 innings of the tournament, graduates one particular senior in catcher Braylee Corbin.

“We sort of rode Colaw and Corbin all year,” Hedrick mentioned. “They carried us a lot.”

Speak to Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com

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