HS Softball: Nicholas County explodes past Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson and Nicholas County were both coming off of dramatic losses when they met Wednesday night in Beckley.
The visiting Grizzlies took any thoughts of another dramatic disappointment quickly out of play.
Building a 4-0 lead through three innings, Nicholas County scored six in the fourth and seven in the fifth for a 17-0 win in five innings.
"I didn't expect this, but they hit the ball well," veteran Nicholas County head coach Marie Shaffer said. "We started early in the season, couldn't get the bats to come around and went into a bad slump. Then we had rain. We would have a game, then have three rain days and have to practice inside. We got out of rhythm.
"We finally started playing games and they started seeing more pitching," Shaffer went on to say. "Now we are hitting better. Knock on wood, I hope we keep hitting better."
The home team dropped a game at Shady Spring Monday on an eighth inning walk-off two-run homer. The Grizzlies, on the other hand, went 10 innings at Greenbrier West Tuesday and also lost on a two-run homer to end that game.
"We went 10 innings, but we had a shot to win the game. We had two on and one of our girls hit it back to the fence," Shaffer said. "A little more and we would have been up three. (Greenbrier West) got one on and then hit it out. They beat us by two."
Whether those games had a bearing on Wednesday's battle is hard to quantify, but Nicholas County came to play and Woodrow Wilson appeared flat.
"It is very frustrating. We came out and we weren't ready to play," Woodrow Wilson head coach J.R. Bird said. "I knew it probably 15 minutes before the game. When you come out here not ready to play, this happens."
The trouble started immediately for the Flying Eagles with back-to-back errors on the infield. Zoe Nash and Kylee Amick made the mistakes hurt with RBI-singles. A passed ball scored another run for a three-run lead before the Flying Eagles stepped to the plate.
Even in the early going, Nicholas County (8-9) starting pitcher Abby Hilleary made the Grizzlies lead seem insurmountable.
"She is pitching well for us," Shaffer said. "She has been the work-horse for us all year."
The junior hurler spun a gem, holding the Flying Eagles (11-12) to only three hits and two walks on the evening.
Nicholas County basically slammed the door on the home team in the fourth inning. Five singles and three hit batters added up to six runs and a 10-0 lead.
The 16-hit attack by the Grizzlies included five doubles, one each from Hilleary, Amick, Addison Truman, Makenzie Hanshaw and Myah Scott.
Amick finished 4-for4 with three RBI, while Aubrey Clark was 3-for-3 with five RBI.
Hanshaw and Zoe Nash both had two hits and two RBI. Scott had two hits and one RBI.
Hadley Reott had two of the three hits for Woodrow Wilson.
Woodrow Wilson travels to Greenbrier East Thursday and to Class AA No. 1 Logan, Friday. Nicholas County opens Class AAA, Region 3, Section 2 tournament play Tuesday, hosting Sissonville.
