Maci Boggess and Laila Varney pitched a fantastic game for their teams Wednesday night in the WVSSAC Class AA state tournament winner's bracket final.
Both ladies showed outstanding control throughout the game, allowing a combined three hits in the 1-0 Winfield victory.
Winfield coach Steve Hensley was pleased with Boggess’ performance.
“She had great control all game and was very focused all night,” Hensley said.
Boggess had seven strikeouts while giving up only two hits, walking one batter and had one hit batsman in the shutout. She worked the corners of the plate effectively and battled back from being down in the count several times to get outs.
For Herbert Hoover, Varney was strong all game, striking out five batters with only three walks while only giving up one hit. Herbert Hoover coach Missy Smith had great things to say about Varney’s performance.
“I could not ask Laila to throw a better game than that," Smith said. "Sorry we did not get the win for her, because obviously Maci threw a great game too. We just could not get the hit when we needed it.”
After an uneventful inning and a half, Winfield got on the board in the bottom of the second. It started for the Generals when Chloe Kimble reached base on an error by the shortstop. Ava Cole then came in to pinch run for Kimble.
Ella Nelson then laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Cole to second base. Kristen Hensley then advanced the runner to third on a sacrifice grounder to the third baseman. Cole then came in to score when Kennedy Schilling singled to right field. Varney kept her focus by striking out the next batter; however, the damage had been done.
Herbert Hoover’s best opportunity came in the sixth inning when Sandi Wehrie had an infield hit to third and Josi Fix was hit by a pitch. Boggess refocused and struck out the next two batters. Sydney Bright then flew out to the third baseman to end the inning.
Boggess was able to close the game with three batters and three outs, with all three hitters making nice contact, but the Generals defense was just too tough executing the plays to secure the win.
Both teams are still alive in the playoff. Herbert Hoover’s coach knows they have been there before with one loss over the years and managed to overcome it.
“We are going to start at 9:30 a.m. and see if we can get that first one. We will play it by ear from there. We have done it the last two years and if we can pull it off again, that would be tremendous,” Smith said.
Herbert Hoover 000 000 0 0 2 1
Winfield 010 000 0 1 1 0
Boggess and Varney
Hitting: HH: K. Wehrie 1-3, S. Wehrie 1-2; Winfield: K. Schilling 1-2 RBI.
