The 2026 season started with a number of questions for the Pendleton County Wildcat softball squad.
A new lineup featuring several freshman faces, as well as a new coaching staff, took the field in March. While the team had a mixture of young talent and seasoned experience, it was tough at the time to envision that the squad would not only qualify for states, but win multiple games there.
Along with other postseason accolades, the Wildcats placed two on the Potomac Valley Conference first team, Susan Vincell and Jessica Parker, and two more on the second team, Molly Rowe and Kinsley Price.
Vincell took over as staff ace, showing dominance on the mound. Among all West Virginia high school softball players, she placed 10th in earned run average with a 1.32, ninth in Class A, and tops in the PVC.
She also ranked 22nd in the state and eighth in Class A with 177 strikeouts, and her 12 wins were good for fifth place in Class A and second place in the PVC. Also strong at the plate, she ranked 12th in Class A with a .783 slugging percentage.
Slugging percentage measures a player’s power. It uses the total number of bases a player records per at-bat. Players who record a lot of extra base hits earn higher slugging percentages.
The 11th ranked Class A player in slugging percentage, Jessica Parker, also took first team honors in the PVC. Her percentage was at .788.
Rowe and Price also made the top 50 in Class A in that statistic. Rowe took 42nd with a .623, as well as ranking 12th in Class A in on base percentage with .595. Additionally, she took top PVC honors in stolen bases with 20. Price rated 48th with a .604.
Happily, Pendleton County will enjoy the talents of all four next season. Vincell, Parker, and Rowe will be seniors and Price a sophomore. The team will return next season with a strong lineup of talent and experience, ready to take on the best in the state again.
