By Stephen Smoot
Last season, inclement weather and winter lasting longer than it ought led to disrupted early schedules and overcoming the challenge presented. Thankfully this season, the only challenges have come from the opposition.
Softball
Pendleton County’s reigning state champion softball squad has worked early in the season on building its identity and developing young talent. They opened the season with a near perfect outing against Clay-Battelle. The 7-0 opening day win saw 14 hits from Wildcat hitters.
Jess Parker hit two triples in the game while Chesnee Colaw, Laney Bowers, and Lexi Tingler each hit doubles. Susan Vincell struck out 10 and scattered five hits and two bases on balls in the effort.
After a 10-3 setback to Petersburg on March 25, three days later the team hosted Trinity Christian, defeating that school 8-0. Bowers, a newcomer freshman, hit three times in four at bats to lead her team. Marleigh Moyers drove in three runs. Bowers, Vincell, Callie Judy, and Jaycee Thompson each hit doubles. Vincell earned 12 strikeouts and allowed a single hit and a single walk.
Hilary Fox, head coach, has leaned heavily on her ninth and 10th graders to carry a large share of the load and each has responded well. Early in the season, Pendleton County executes well. Speed on the base paths overall meets that which dominated the region and state last season.
In the past two weeks, the team has dropped tough losses to strong opponents when hosting Frankfort and also traveling to Shinnston to face Lincoln. On April 3, the team swatted the Bees of East Fairmont 16-7. Vincell pitched masterfully, allowing two hits and walking no one while also striking out seven.
Thompson pitched two innings, striking out three and allowing only two earned runs in two innings.
This week, the Wildcats face Pocahontas County, which has not yet won a contest. On the ninth, they play at Moorefield. The three and five Yellow Jackets dropped a 9-1 loss to Frankfort and enjoyed wins over Tucker County, Berkeley Springs, and Mountain Ridge. On April 11 comes a doubleheader at Lewis County, then a game at home on April 14 against Tucker County.
Baseball
Sam Yokum’s Wildcats opened up with a big 14-0 win against the Pirates of Paw Paw. Starter Chase Owens delivered two perfect innings, striking out the side in each. Cole Harper and Mason Miller followed, each pitching for an inning, neither allowing a run. They then ran into a buzzsaw when hosting East Hardy. The Cougars defeated the Wildcats 17-7 in their opener and have handled since Tucker County and Hampshire.
After a big win against the Warriors of Pocahontas County, the Wildcats dropped a heartbreaker to Tygarts Valley. The teams locked up in a classic pitchers’ duel. The Bulldogs’ Jacob Wamsley has a one and one record in three appearances with a stellar 1.08 earned run average. He also hits .667 with 16 runs batted in, three doubles, and four home runs.
It’s important to note that Tygarts Valley played almost twice as many games as Pendleton County at that point in the season. Owens pitched five strong innings, allowing two hits and two runs. The Bulldogs edged ahead in the top of the seventh. Though Pendleton County had opportunities in the seventh, Wamsley shut them down for the win.
A bellwether game came on April 4 against Musselman. The Class AAAA school has a 9-2 win over Petersburg, and an 11-4 victory over Moorefield thus far in the season. They also have a narrow 2-0 setback against Jefferson, almost always one of the top baseball schools in the state.
Pendleton County lost 7-3, but performed well. Travis Owens had two hits in three at bats with a run batted in. Mason Harper pitched four and a third innings, allowing three runs off three hits, striking out one and walking two. Neither team scored until the Applemen picked up a run in the bottom of the third. Wildcat hitters struck back in the fifth. Three runs gave the visiting Pendleton County squad a 3-1 advantage, but two Musselman runs in the bottom of the inning tied it up. Musselman put up four in the bottom of the sixth and kept the Wildcats off the scoreboard in the seventh. It was a strong effort even in the setback.
Through April 13, Pendleton County plays Tucker County twice and Pocahontas County a single time. Mixed in is a rematch at Baker against the Cougars of East Hardy. After that the schedule gets more difficult with contests against Hampshire, Moorefield, Elkins, Keyser, and Jefferson coming up through the end of the month.
