Weir High’s Gigi Paladina and Rayna Hoover celebrate after Hoover caught a pop up for the final out, sealing their regional championship victory. - Andrew Grimm

Whether it was running into Oak Glen in the sectional tournament under the old format, or having their hearts broken in the regional, a trip to Charleston just seemed to elude the Red Riders, no matter how good their regular season was.

Not anymore.

With a 4-0 victory in Game 2 of the Class AAA Region 1 Championship Series Wednesday evening, Weir High clinched a sweep of Grafton in the best-of-three series and earned its first trip to the state tournament in three decades.

“It’s really amazing,” Leary said. “I came in with Coach (Frank) Sisinni in 2016 and we won the sectional (but didn’t get to state), last year was heartbreaking because we got in this situation where we won the first game (of the regional series) and Keyser put it to us the last two games and we came up short. This is huge for the program, huge for the school. I could be wrong, but I think this is the first time we’ve won the regional in 30 years, I think the last time was was in 1994 when they won the state championship.

Weir High’s Brayley Lash launches a fly ball with her swing. - Andrew Grimm

“I’m just very proud of these kids, it’s been a goal of the program and it’s been a lot of years. We’ve had some heartbreak, we’ve won OVACs and come up short (in the tournament), we’ve got to this point and come up short, so it’s nice to finally bust through.”

The Red Riders plated a pair of early runs, then added two late for some added insurance. As it turned out, with Eliza Utt dealing in the circle, the first one was all they would need as the junior hurled her second complete game victory in as many days, striking out seven batters without issuing a walk in pitching the shutout.

She stranded runners at first and third in the top of the first with a big strikeout and the Bearcats (18-9-1) did not have another runner reach third base the rest of the game.

“She was popping the ball and even her breaking stuff was popping the ball pretty hard,” Leary said. “When she’s doing that, she’s a pretty good pitcher. She throws hard enough that you have to look for a fastball, and when her breaking stuff has velocity like that she’s really tough to hit.

“I’m really proud of her. She has thrown over 200 innings, she’s pitched both ends of doubleheaders probably nine times this year. She’s a workhorse. She’s great kid, a hard worker and sometimes she carries us on her back.”

Weir High pitcher Eliza Utt goes through her throwing motion. - Andrew Grimm

Assisting Utt is stymying the visitors was catcher Loganne Barton, who threw out a pair of runners on the base paths, including one trying to get to the third in the sixth when the lead was just 2-0.

“Loganne was huge today, she’s come along so well,” Leary said. “She has come leaps and bounds since the beginning of her freshman year in just a two-year period. She’s always been able to hit the ball, but her defense (was what needed to improve) and she’s done a very good job. We’ve been very fortunate in my time here to always have very good catchers and she’s another one.”

Weir, since falling in the OVAC 4A semifinals at the end of April, has now rattle off seven-straight victories in winning the Section 1 and Region 1 championships.

“We’ve shown a lot of resiliency,” Leary said.

While the Red Riders (28-7) did not use the power they showed at the plate earlier in the season, they found other ways to get the needed offense.

Weir High’s Gigi Paladina fires to first for an out after fielding the ball. - Andrew Grimm

Barton opened the scoring with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the first, which plated Rayna Hoover. Hoover was in scoring position after making a heads up play to tag up on a pop out and put herself in scoring position.

“That’s what a senior will do for you,” Leary said. “That was huge because it ended up getting us a run. That’s the benefit of having experienced players. She’s very attentive to every aspect of the game and helps us in so many ways.”

Brayley Lash then hit into a fielder’s choice and the first of three Grafton errors allowed another run to score for a 2-0 lead.

That remained the score until the bottom of the sixth when pinch runner Lilly Ascencio scored on an error when an attempt to pick her off at third base sailed away into the outfield, then Lash scored when a throw attempting to get her out also got away, doubling the lead going to the seventh.

“In the second half of the season, it seems like (manufacturing runs with small ball) has been the case,” Leary said. “Early in the season we were hitting a lot of home runs, now it seems like we’re manufacturing runs. I’m glad we got those last two runs in the bottom of the sixth. That really took the pressure off.

REGIONAL CHAMPIONS — The Weir High softball team celebrates with the Region 1 championship trophy after defeating Grafton in Game 2 of the series, clinching a spot in the state tournament next week. - Andrew Grimm

“None of us have been happy with how we’ve been hitting the ball, but the sign of a good team is doing what we need to do. Defensively we’ve been sharp all year, Eliza has been really good, and sometimes with that, you just need to find a way to get a couple of runs.”

Grafton put the first two runners on, with a hit by pitch and single, but Utt put the next three down in order to close the deal.

The next stop for the Red Riders is Little Creek Park in South Charleston for the state tournament next week. The double elimination event is slated to be played May 28-31.

“It’s nice to get a win in what we know is our last game here this season, you don’t get to do that very often,” Leary said. “It’s so nice for these seniors to be able to do that and get to go to the state tournament. I’m very proud of them, I’m very proud of them for being to get their and get their shot at it being one of the final four team standing.”

WVSSAC Class AAA

Weir High softball team poses with the Region 1 Championship Trophy. - Andrew Grimm

Region 1 Championship Series

Game 2

at Roberta “Birdie” DeFrances Field

Weir High 4, Grafton 0

Weir wins series 2-0)

G 0-0-0 0-0-0 0 — 0 5 3

W 2-0-0 0-0-2 x — 4 5 0

GRAFTON (18-9-1): Crime (LP, 6IP, 4R, 1ER, 5H, 6K, 2BB) and McGinnis. Mauller 2S; Horne S; Crimms S; Wildroudt S.

WEIR HIGH (28-7): Utt (WP, CG, 0R, 5H, 7K, 0BB, 1HBP) and Barton. Weber 2S; Barton S, RBI; Hoover S; Kelly S.