By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
Moorefield Softball held its annual Military Appreciation Night and caged the Mountain Lions 11-nil on Wednesday at Sager Field.
The Yellow Jackets had a special pre-game meal for all service members and veterans.
Military veterans and current service members were escorted to the field by the players for the national anthem.
Both teams donned military inspired jerseys for the game and U.S Army veteran Todd Snyder threw out the ceremonial first pitch to his daughter Hannah Snyder.
“[Military] Honoring the military is very special to me, because I was a military spouse. My husband served in the military for four years and it is such a huge sacrifice that a bunch of people don’t understand. I feel sometimes they are under appreciated and to be able to do a small special event like this speaks volumes. The girls are always excited to get their family members and community members involved. This is special to me and I want to take time to let them know how much we appreciate them. We are thankful for their service. Erin Everson was very kind to make cupcakes for them. Daniel Barr cooked the food and he is a veteran himself, so that was awesome. Tucker County was one of our first game for the Military Appreciation Night and they asked us to play each year. They made special uniforms just for this game and that was so special. Coach Jonathan does a great job helping out with this game. I told our girls to stay focused from the get go. In some of our games recently, we have started slowly and battled from behind. We did a better job focusing from the start this time. We got up on top and fired through, instead of playing from behind,” Moorefield coach Bridget Sions stated.
Moorefield pitcher Annie Barr tossed a one-hitter with six strikeouts in the win.
Tucker County leadoff batter Ava Shaffer flew out to Moorefield right fielder Hannah Snyder.
Barr issued the first of three walks for the game to Tucker County’s Peyton Hicks, then struck out Sutton Pase.
Raven Matthews reached base on an error for the Mountain Lions with a collision at first base.
Both runners were stranded as Barr notched a strikeout to Makenna Evans.
Yellow Jackets leadoff batter CiCi Kump jumped on board with the help of an error at second base.
After a steal by Kump, Grace Simmons flew out to center fielder Reagan Herron.
Emmy Crites grounded out to Pase at first base as Kump dashed over to third base.
Tucker County pitcher Peyton Hicks issued back-to-back walks to Seanna Heavner and Carlee Haines to load the bases.
Kump and Heavner scored on two passed balls to give the Yellow Jackets a 2-0 edge prior to a groundout by Raleigh Kuykendall.
Tucker County started the second inning with a walk given to Carlee Nichols.
Snyder caught a fly ball by Isabella Bennett, then Barr jammed Isabella Loucks into a pop-up caught by Kuykendall.
Nichols was stranded as Barr recorded a strikeout on Herron.
Barr hit a laser into center field for a single to begin the bottom half of the second inning for Moorefield.
Snyder ripped a sharp grounder into center field and Barr scored on an error with Snyder racing to third base.
Kerigan Bergdall notched an RBI single into center field for a 4-0 edge.
The Yellow Jackets kept buzzing at the plate as Kump crushed an RBI triple and Simmons executed an RBI groundout to create a 6-nil lead.
Crites flew out to Herron and Hicks collected a grounder by Heavner to end the inning.
Haines caught a pop-up by Shaffer to start the third inning, then Hicks singled into right field.
Pase drew a walk before Matthews hit into a fielder’s choice out at third base.
The Mountain Lions stranded the runners on a pop-up by Evans to Bergdall.
Haines hit a blooper into right field for a single, then stole second base and dashed to third base on an error to give the Yellow Jackets a runner in scoring position.
Hicks countered with a strikeout to Kuykendall.
Barr launched a shot into right field which was dropped to plate Haines for a 7-0 lead.
Snyder squeezed an RBI single into right field to extend the Yellow Jackets advantage to 8-nil.
Tucker County catcher Isabella Bennett caught Snyder stealing, then Bergdall reached base on an error before being left on the pond on a fly out by Kump.
The Mountain Lions went down in order during the fourth inning on two groundouts and a strikeout.
Moorefield’s Brenna See reached base on an error with one out, then Heavner recorded an infield single.
Haines hammered an RBI double into left field for a 9-0 lead.
Liddy Keplinger notched a two-run producing single to put the Yellow Jackets up 11-nil.
Herron and Shaffer caught the next two outs off the bats of Barr and Snyder.
Tucker County went down in order as Barr induced a groundout before garnering back-to-back strikeouts to finish the game sealing a 11-0 victory and a salute to the military with both teams gathering together for one final recognition.
