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WEIRTON -- Weir's Rayna Hoover damaged the scoreboard, but the Big Red softball team won the game.
After being held off the scoreboard in the first two innings, Big Red delivered multiple runs in each of the next four innings en route to defeating the Red Riders, 9-5, on an overcast Monday evening at the Roberta DeFrancis Softball Field.
"For us, it is a matter of us seeing the ball hit the bat once, and then it's like OK, we're ready to go" Big Red (3-1) head coach Gus DiMarzio said about his team's offensive eruption. "It's take two strikes, or hit the ball to right field, you know the great lingo in the game. It is just a confidence thing.
"For us, is a matter of confidence. It's a matter of us putting the bat on the ball. We don't care about batting average. We are more interested in on-base percentage. We preach to them about our on-base percentage. When you get two feet on first base, you give yourself a chance to win the game. If you don't get two feet on first base, you don't give yourself a chance.
"Their pitcher pounded the outer half, and we did not adjust early on in the game. Then, we did adjust, and we started to hit the ball."
Both teams hit the ball hard as there were more than a dozen hard hit balls, and the two teams collected nine extra-base hits in the game, including four home runs -- with both teams hitting a pair.
"In the handshake line, Gus said it was like the old Jefferson Lake State Park out at Edison, but I think we have the exact same dimensions," Weir (7-2) head coach John Leary said. "The ball jumped out of here pretty well. Both teams hit the ball hard.
"Eliza did not have her best stuff today, and that is a bad team to not have your best stuff against. She wasn't sharp, and they hit the ball hard. She's just a sophomore. Like in baseball, when you don't have your best stuff, you have to find a way to battle. You have to be mentally strong, and not just throw the ball over the plate.
"She threw too many non-competitive pitches. She threw some that just bounced in front of the plate, and she was wild inside and outside. This was our ninth game, she has pitched every game and this was the first game where she was not competitive.
"She just had a bad day, and they are a bad team to have a bad day against. Sometimes, the other team is the reason you have a bad day. She will learn from this. She'll grow. She'll mature. She'll learn. She'll battle. You have to battle when you don't have your best stuff."
The two rivals recorded 16 hits in the game. The visitors outhit the hosts, 9-7.
Big Red took a 6-1 lead in the fifth, but the girls from Hancock County refused to throw in the towel as Weir battled until the final pitch of the game.
"We hit the ball well," Leary said. "We were down 6-1, and we kept trying to cut into the lead. The biggest thing we can take away from this game is we keep battling. We are not going to roll over. We are not going to quit. We are not just going to try and get the game over. We are going to compete.
"These girls support one another. They back each other up. Six of the nine girls in our lineup have hit one over the fence. That is a positive thing."
Sadie Edwards picked up the win inside the circle for Big Red. She struck out five and walked three.
"She pitched well," DiMarzio said. "She missed some spots. This was only the second game she has pitched in two years. She had the injury and everything. When you take all of that into account, she pitched really well. She did miss some spots, and that hurt us. Your pitcher is going to miss some spots, and when you do that, teams are going to make you pay."
Eliza Utt took the loss for Weir. She struck out six and walked five.
Sena Smith and Edwards each delivered a home run for the girls in the red jerseys. Edwards, who also doubled, blasted a three-run home run in the top of the sixth to give Big Red a 9-3 advantage. Smith hit a solo home run in the third to give her team a 2-0 lead. Following the home run, Smith was intentionally walked the next two times she came up to the plate.
Rayna Hoover and Loganne Barton each belted a home run for the girls in the white jerseys. Hoover hit a solo home run in the third, and Barton contributed a two-run shot in the fifth.
With the game scoreless, Emma Lyons led off the third with a walk to give Big Red a runner on base. Lyons moved up to third on a pair of groundouts before scoring on a wild pitch with Smith at the plate to give the victors a 1-0 lead. Then, Smith hit a ball to center field that hit the top of the fence and bounced over for a home run to give Big Red a 2-0 advantage.
Big Red extended their lead in the fourth.
Emily Tuttle reached on a fielder's choice, Bailee Beall followed with his first of two singles in the game and Lyons drew a walk. Gulianna Cramer, who ran for Tuttle, scored Big Red's third on a wild pitch to make the score 3-0. Addy Meyer added an RBI single to increase Big Red's advantage to 4-0. Smith was walked with two outs, and Utt got out of the inning with a groundout.
The Red Riders cut into their deficit in the home half of the inning.
Hoover led off the inning, and the shortstop launched a home run over the fence in left and off the scoreboard to make the score, 4-1. The ball hit the strike counter on the scoreboard, knocking out of commission for the remainder of the game.
Big Red answered right back in the fifth with two more runs to take a 6-1 lead.
Edwards doubled to start things off, and she ended up scoring on a wild pitch. Tuttle brought home Sagan Smarella, who had reached on an error, with a sacrifice fly to give Big Red a five-run lead.
Weir responded in the bottom half of the inning.
Barton led off the inning with a home run to pull the home team to within 6-2. After a groundout, Utt doubled, and Brayley Lash and Hoover both walked to load the bases. Hoover was walked intentionally. Then, Kylie Dean plated Utt with a groundout to cut the Red Riders' deficit to 6-3.
"They are well coached," DiMarzio said about the Red Riders. "Their kids work hard. They play year round. They are not going to lay down. You don't get anything out of beating a team 20-0 or 15-0. You get better from games like this. We are going to learn from this, and we are going to get better."
The winners responded again in the sixth, this time scoring three runs.
Smith walked to start the inning, and Sophia Zorne doubled for the second time to put two runners on base before Edwards belted a three-run home to give Big Red a 9-3 advantage.
Weir did not go away quietly in the seventh.
Utt hut her third double with one out, and she scored on a double by Brayley Lash to make it a 9-4 ballgame, and after Hoover was walked for the second time, Dean plated Lash with a groundout to make the score, 9-5, however, Edwards got Bella Weber to groundout to end the game.
"We have to shake this one off," Leary said. "We are supposed to play Brooke tomorrow. The first time we played them, we hit the ball hard, but we just made some nice plays. It's 5A points for the OVAC.
"I looked at the standings this morning, and we were on top. We would like to stay there. Today was disappointing. Like Clint Hurdle said, or Derek Shelton, we are going to have to shower this one off and come back tomorrow.
"Eliza is very competitive. She is not going to let this bother her. They hit two over the fence, and you have a tendency to get down, but you have to come back and battle. She's competitive. They hit the ball hard.
"Eliza is a young lady. She has pitched every game and sometimes you just don't have your best stuff. When you don't have your best stuff, you have to battle, you have to get mad. You have to have get the eye of the tiger when things are not going well. She will learn from this as she gets older.
"She is going to mature. She is just a sophomore. She is in the 10th grade. She is going to mature. She is going to keep pitching, and this is going to make her better in the future. You just have to learn to fight, get angry and battle."
Weather permitting, both teams are scheduled to play at 5:30 p.m. today at home. Big Red is slated to play Oak Glen, while Weir is set to play Brooke for the second time this season.
Big Red 9, Weir 5
Big Red 002 223 0 – 9 9 1
Weir 000 120 2 – 5 7 1
BIG RED (3-1): Edwards WP (5K, 3BB) and Smarella. Smith HR, RBI; Zorne 2D; Edwards D, HR, 3RBI; Smarella S; Tuttle RBI; Beall 2S; Meyer S, RBI
WEIR (7-2): Utt LP (6K, 5BB) and Barton. Utt 3D; Lash D, RBI; Hoover HR, RBI; Dean S, 2RBI; Barton HR, RBI