Williamstown softball beats Wirt for 1st victory

Williamstown’s Kiersten Kerby, pictured here making a throw to first base, knocked in three runs and had a three-inning save in the Yellowjackets’ 7-5 victory Thursday evening versus Wirt County.
(Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

WILLIAMSTOWN – Here Thursday during a Little Kanawha Conference West Division affair, it was a battle of winless programs as Wirt County invaded Williamstown.

Although the Tigers led by scores of 2-0 and 4-2 for first-year head coach Candace Hardbarger, the orange and black dropped to 0-19 as Williamstown rallied for a 7-5 victory.

Ava Johnson went 4 for 4 with three runs scored, a double and one RBI for the 1-17 Yellowjackets, who are scheduled to play at 5 p.m. today at Fort Frye.

Alyssa Clare (4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 8 BB, 2 SO) earned the mound triumph. Kiersten Kerby, who had three runs-batted-in, secured the save after throwing three hitless frames and allowing one earned run with two walks and a strikeout.

“Finally got the win and hopefully there will be a couple more coming later this week,” said coach Ron Stanley. “The most important thing is for them to have the feeling of being a winner. You got to work hard and this is the payoff for it.”

Wirt County’s Skylar Bunch dives safely into home before Williamstown catcher Nevaeh Moore can apply the tag during the Yellowjackets’ 7-5 win Thursday evening.
(Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Stanley added of Johnson’s effort “can’t beat that. Those (Johnson/Kerby) are our two returners from last year.

“We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores out starting. Again, day by day they are getting better and better. All around a good game.”

Kylee Barker singled with one out and Kylee Ross followed with a base on balls to open the first. Kaylee Copeland’s sacrifice fly and Skylar Bunch’s RBI free pass gave the Tigers an early cushion.

WHS responded with two runs of its own. Johnson had a one-out double and Elli Hanlon reached first after striking out. Kerby delivered her first RBI via a sacrifice fly and Alexis Stephens followed with a two-out run-scoring two-bagger.

Wirt County took advantage of four ‘Jacket errors in the third to push across two more runs. Bunch had a two-out single and went to second on an error. She scored after Harley Boyce reached on an infield error and it was 4-2 when Boyce came home following another ‘Jacket miscue.

Williamstown’s Ava Johnson finished 4 for 4 with three runs scored, a double and one run-batted-in during the Yellowjackets’ 7-5 victory Thursday against Wirt County.
(Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Coach Stanley’s program was able to get one back in the home half of the frame. Johnson singled and scored on Kerby’s RBI groundout.

The Tigers committed a pair of errors during Williamstown’s three-run fourth. Nevaeh Moore walked, stole second and the bases were soon loaded after Tiger losing pitcher Ali Knight (6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 7 BB, 5 SO) issued consecutive free passes to Inessa Buck and Lakyn Harshberger. No. 9 hitter B Aydin was retired on a soft pop to Barker at first, but leadoff hitter Kyla Myer and Johnson followed with back-to-back RBI singles. Another WCHS error made it 6-4 after four.

Wirt County, which welcomes in Roane County for a 5 p.m. Monday tilt, scored its final run in the top of the sixth. Ross took one for the team and came home on a fielder’s choice RBI by Knight.

Johnson singled to lead off the sixth and scored after another sacrifice fly RBI by Kerby. Alexis Stephens was robbed of a hit when Copeland made a diving catch in center field.

“Magnolia had a walkoff on us and beat us (15-14). That’s really the closest we’ve been to winning a game this year,” added coach Stanley, who got a nifty running catch in center by Myer as well as a leaping grab by Kerby when she was at second. “This is good.

Wirt County catcher Kylee Ross tags out Williamstown’s Kyla Myer following a strikeout during the Tigers’ 7-5 road setback on Thursday.
(Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“I tell them every day we just need to get better and they’ve been doing that. We had a long way to come. A lot of these girls are new to the sport or their softball IQ needed raised a bunch and we are getting there one day at a time.”

The Tigers, who went 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position and had a web gem by Kaitlyn Duskey at the hot corner in foul territory, had a player thrown out at third and at the plate.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com