WEIRTON — The Madonna softball team is resilient. Madonna has lost four games this season, and each time the Blue Dons bounced back to win the next game.

The trend continued Thursday.

After falling to No. 2 seed Trinity Christian in a winner’s bracket game Tuesday, top-seeded Madonna responded and shut out No. 3 seed Cameron, 5-0, in an elimination game at Starvaggi Park.

“It shows that we are a good team,” Madonna (18-4) head coach Jason Backel said about his team’s ability to bounce back. “We are a good team. We’re just struggling to hit the ball. The last couple of games we have hit more pop-ups than we did in 10 games. Our girls are resilient. We’re playing good defense. We’re making plays behind Kendall. Those are signs of a good team.”

With the win, Madonna will now play Trinity Christian in a doubleheader Saturday at home. The Blue Dons need to beat the Warriors twice to advance to the regional tournament.

“We have to put the ball in play instead of hitting pop-ups,” Backel said. “We will be OK. If we put the ball in play, we will be fine. We had opportunities to win that game, but we hit a bunch of pop-ups. We are going to have to manufacture runs.”

With the loss, the Dragons end the season at 6-14.

The game was scoreless going into the bottom of the fourth.

“It was a huge concern at that point for us because we weren’t hitting the ball,” Backel said. “If you don’t hit the ball, you’re not going to beat anybody. It doesn’t matter who pitches.

“Fortunately for us, Kendall pitched the best game of her career. That’s her 35th win in the last three years. She is only a junior. She pitched an outstanding game, and we needed it badly.”

Peyton Conley led off the inning with a single to center and then stole second base. She advanced to third on a flyout, and then she scored on a two-out infield single by Geena Birkhimer to give the Blue Dons a 1-0 lead.

The victors extended their advantage in the fifth. Kayleigh Gamble walked with one out, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kayla Sczerbinski and moved to third on a passed before scoring on an infield single by Chloe Orrechio, who advanced all the way third on the play thanks to an error, to make it a 2-0 ballgame.

Madonna added another run in the sixth. Madi Owens walked to lead off the inning, and she stole second base. Kendall Ryan reached on an error enabling Owens to come around to score to increase Madonna’s advantage to 3-0. Then with two outs, Rylee Birkhimer belted a two-run home run to give the girls from Hancock County a 5-0 advantage.

“We’re still not hitting the ball,” Backel said. “Kendall had 12 strikeouts. She was lights out. She pitched a great game.

“We had to play a little small ball, because we are not hitting. We have had way too many pop-ups. We got the one run, and then we got the big fly. We got Kendall an insurance run, and then Rylee Birkhimer hit a home run to left.”

Ryan recorder her win – her second of the postseason – for Madonna Ryan recorded 12 strikeouts while walking two. Ryan, who struck out the last two batters in the game – did not allow a run while giving up three hits.

Lexi Bogard took the loss for the visitors from Marshall County. She struck out three and walked two.

“She’s tough,” Backel said. “She’s a good pitcher. She shut put Magnolia last week. It was 9-0. She shut them out.

“We are going to practice tomorrow, and we are going to bounce all the way back. We have to start hitting line drives again. We are going to have to start getting the ball down of instead of hitting pop-ups. We are giving teams too many gifts. We are going to have to start hitting. We are going to have to put the ball in play. If we do that, we will be fine.”

Madonna outhit Cameron, 5-2. The visitors did not collect a hit in the final three innings. Like the Blue Dons, the Dragons had one extra-base hit.

Emma Francis finished with a double to lead the way offensively for Cameron.

Ally Laughlin tallied a single to help Madonna’s cause.

The win was Madonna’s third this season against Cameron. The Blue Dons swept both regular season meetings against the Dragons. Madonna defeated Cameron, 4-3, March 27 on the road and 9-2 April 9 at home.

“Bogard pitched all three games,” Backel said. “In the first game, we were down the whole game, but we were able to score in the sixth and seventh to come back and win. We were down, but we were able to come back. We hit the ball a little better in the second game. We won that won, 9-2.

“She is only a sophomore. She throws hard. She doesn’t throw a lot of off-speed stuff. She is a solid pitcher. She throws in the mid-50s. She is a nice pitcher. She’s only going to get better.

Madonna defeated No. 4 seed Clay-Battelle, 16-4, Monday in five innings before falling to Trinity Christian, 4-3. The Warriors defeated the Dragons Monday at home before defeating the Blue Dons. The Dragons stayed alive Wednesday by defeating the Cee-Bees.

“We are going to have to come ready to play Saturday,” Backel said. “We are going to have to put the ball in play. Like I told you before, they are dangerous. They can hit the ball. They threw us off last time. They threw three pitchers. We are going to have to be ready to hit anybody, no matter who they throw.

“We’re looking forward to it. We took a punch. We are going to find out a lot about our team. We were in the loser’s bracket, and we came out with a good win against a good team and a good pitcher. We are going to fight all the way back. We are going to give it everything we have got.”

Madonna 5, Cameron 0

Cameron 000 000 0 – 0 2 2

Madonna 000 113 X – 5 5 1

CAMERON (6-14): Bogard LP (3K, 2BB) and Ebert. Francis D.

MADONNA (18-4): Ryan WP (12K, 2BB) and Orecchio. Orecchio S, RBI; Conley S; G. Birkhimer S, RBI; Laughlin S; R. Birkhimer HR, 2RBI.