By Greg Carey
SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — In a game where offense was at a premium, East Hardy blinked first.
Top seed Wahama capitalized, and it made all the difference in the White Falcons’ 2-0 victory against the Cougars in the opening game of the Class A state tournament at Rock Field B at Little Creek Park.
Wahama (23-11) scored twice in the second inning, and that was plenty enough support for Gracie Banks, who struck out nine over a complete game two-hitter and did not issue a walk.
“It’s her first time in the state tournament, and she did well to hit her spots and keeping batters off balance,” Wahama coach Wes Riffle said.
Raylee Zirkle reached third base on an error to start the bottom of the second, scored the game’s first run on a wild pitch moments later, and the White Falcons doubled their advantage soon after courtesy of a run-scoring double off the bat of Abby Flowers that allowed Marlee Carr to score for the two-run lead.
“For a freshman being on this big stage for the first time, she did really well,” Riffle said. “She does really well behind the plate, has a big arm and got a big hit when we needed it, so very impressed with her performance as a young kid in this environment.”
Flowers’ extra-base knock marked the lone hit for Wahama, which won three consecutive state championships from 2021-23 and finished runner-up a season ago.
Otherwise, No. 8 seed East Hardy (10-12) got a near-flawless pitching performance from Madison Stronsider, who struck out and walked four across six innings in the circle.
“Between her fastball and curve ball, when she’s throwing strikes, she’s hard to hit,” Cougars’ coach Noah Orndorff said.
Riffle wasn’t taken aback by his team being involved in a low-scoring contest.
“We knew coming into this from looking at some of their stuff that they don’t give up a lot of hits,” he said. “Their pitcher is good and has a lot of spin on the ball. She does a good job of keeping the ball away from hitters, so we had to incorporate a little small ball today and try to be solid defensively. I don’t want to say we had to be perfect, but we had to limit mistakes.”
Unfortunately for the Cougars, they couldn’t find an answer to solve Banks, who struck out the side in the first and retired 12 straight batters, including eight by strikeout, across the first four frames.
Not until a leadoff single from Bella Bauserman to start the fifth did EHHS manage a baserunner, and she was stranded at third when Banks struck out Alexis Baker to end that inning.
The Cougars produced their second hit on Strosnider’s single with two outs in the seventh, but Bauserman followed with a line drive that Banks caught, before throwing to first for a game-ending double play.
The result allows Wahama to advance to the winner’s bracket, while the Cougars are one loss away from elimination.
“There is nothing to ashamed of,” Orndorff said. “We played a good game against a good team and the No. 1 seed, so we’re going to regroup and whoever we get to play this evening, we’re going to give it our best shot and try to go win.”
