By Stephen Smoot
It was a miserable day for outdoor sports when Pendleton County traveled to Short Gap last week for a date with the Frankfort Falcons. Just a half hour to the west, snow would soon blanket the mountaintops. At the game, cold temperatures and an unforgiving wind sprinkled with spitting rain, snow, and sleet greeted the squads.
Frankfort brought an even record into the game. They beat Martinsburg, split with Spring Mills, and lost to cross-county rival Keyser.
Neither team put a runner on in the first, but the Wildcats brought the power in the second inning. With two outs, Kate Hedrick hit a screaming line drive over the center field fence. The very next batter, Allie Vance, lofted a home run to left center to set the score at 2-0.
In such blustery conditions, hitting can be tough. Pendleton County relied on Baylee Beachler to keep the Falcon bats at bay. She carried a no hitter through three and two thirds, only giving up a walk on a hit batsman until then.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats worked hard to manufacture runs. The Frankfort pitcher used accuracy instead of speed to keep Pendleton County hitters off balance. Not until the top of the fifth did Pendleton County put more runs on the board.
Jessica Parker led off with a one ball and one strike base hit to left field. Susan Vincell followed her to the plate. Parker stole on the first pitch as Vincell worked the pitcher. Parker stole third on the seventh pitch of the at bat and Vincell walked.
Julia Mongold came up next. A passed ball to her brought Parker home for the third run of the game for the Wildcats. The fourth run in the inning came on an Avery Townsend sacrifice fly.
In the bottom of the fifth, Frankfort started to get traction against Beachler. They led off with a double and a walk. She settled in and restored order, however, by striking out the next batter in four pitches. The rest of the order fell to strikeout as well.
Pendleton County looked as if they might break the game open in the top of the sixth. Lizzie Alt reached on an error and Hedrick followed with a line drive. The next batter, however, hit into an inning ending double play.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Falcons finally put a run on the board. The leadoff batter picked up a single to centerfield. She stole second, then scored on a sacrifice.
The Wildcats did add an insurance run in the top of the seventh. Parker led off with a hard hit line drive to the left field wall, which her hustle turned into a stand up triple. Nataley Hedrick came up next, A passed ball during her at bat let Parker score the fifth run of the game for her team.
Beacher closed the game with 13 strikeouts in the complete game win, scattering three hits over seven innings. Parker led the team in hitting, going two for two.
