SECTIONAL CHAMPS — The Weir High softball team celebrates winning the Class AAA, Region 1, Section 1 championship over Brooke Wednesday night with a sweep of the sectional final series at home. Andrew Grimm

Weir – the No. 1 seed – and No. 3 seed Brooke met in the West Virginia Class AAA Region 1 Section 1 Final Wednesday evening with a possible tip to the regional tournament up for grabs. The Red Riders rolled to a 12-0 victory in five innings via mercy rule in the first game to put Weir one away from the sectional title. The Bruins responded in the second game and held the lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, however, the Red Riders recorded three runs in the home half of the inning to rally for a 4-2 victory to sweep the doubleheader and once again claim a sectional title up at the Roberta “Birdie” DeFrancis Softball Field.

“I am proud of the girls because we have had a tough couple of weeks the last couple of weeks,” Weir (25-7) head coach John Leary said. “We were disappointed with how the OVACs turned out. Winning the sectional title was one of our preseason goals. We wanted to win the sectional title and advance to the regionals. We have completed step one of winning a sectional title. Step two is winning the regional title. That is something we have not done in a long time. I am not sure when the last time Weir won a regional title. I think the last time Weir won a regional was when they won the last state title under Birdie. Getting back to the regionals is nice.

“I have to give Brooke credit. We won the first game, 12-0, and they did not roll over and quit. They battled until the end. That is a credit to them and a credit to their coaches. They played hard the whole way.

“We get some time off now, and that is a good thing. We have a couple of kids who are banged up. The time off will give them a chance to heal up. We are going to try and pick up some games. We do not want to be off until the regionals. They have a complete week to finish the sectionals. They have the rest of this week and all of next week. We are going to play a couple of games. We don’t want to just sit idle. We would be off for 10 or 11 days. We want to keep our swings. We want to keep our timing with our swings.

Weir’s Rayna Hoover attempts to turn a double play after forcing out Brooke’s Eden McKinney. - Andrew Grimm

“We did what we were supposed to do. Obviously, we wanted to get out of the sectionals and get to the regionals and win the regionals. That is our focus now. We have not won a regional title in many years.”

After losing the first game by 12 runs in five innings, Brooke found itself down 1-0 going into the fourth inning in Game 2, however, the Bruins battled back and plated a pair of runs to take a 2-1 lead. The visitors kept the hosts off the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning, however, the girls from Hancock County were able to break through for three runs in the fifth to retake the lead at 4-2.

The girls from Brooke County had two more chances to bat, and they had the tying run on base twice in the seventh, however, the Bruins were unable to score again as the Red Riders came away with the victory.

“They battled,” Brooke (7-21) head coach Tom Diserio said. “They came back. When you lose the first game 12-0, a lot of teams would have folded up, but our girls came back. They battled.

“The second game was a heck of a game. Defensively, we secured the ball, our bats came alive, we got runners on base and we scored some runs. If we are not able to get on base and not able to get runners into scoring position, we are not going to win.

Weir High’s Gigi Paladina attempts to tag out Brooke’s Maia Diserio during Wenesday’s sectional final. - Andrew Grimm

“Weir is a very strong team. They are very disciplined. They are going to be hard to beat. They are going to go far at the state level.”

Trailing 2-1 in the fifth, Gigi Paladina reached on a bunt single, and she stole second base and scored on a single by Eliza Utt to knot the score at 2. Kylie Dean followed with a single, and Loganne Barton plated Utt with another single to give the Red and Black the lead back at 3-2. Bella Weber brought home the third run of the inning with a groundout.

Utt shut the door on the Green and Gold in the last two innings.

Utt picked up her second win of the day and her third in less than 24 hours as the junior pitcher struck out two and walked two. She allowed two runs on five hits.

Eden McKinney took the loss for Brooke. She did not record a strikeout or walk a batter. She allowed four runs on seven hits.

Offensively, Utt collected two singles and an RBI in the win, Dean delivered an RBI in the third to go along with her single in the fifth and Weber also produced a single to go along with her RBI. Brayley Lash also singled for the victors.

For Brooke, Eden McKinney tallied a single and a double, Maia Diserio delivered a double and an RBI and Emma Bober ended up with a single and an RBI. Jazz Wood added a base hit for the girls from Brooke County.

In the fourth, Diserio doubled home Eden McKinney to tie the score at 1 before Bober brought home the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly.

“They new what was at stake,” Coach Diserio said asked if anything was said between the two games. “We had to lay it out for them. We talked about the possible paths we would have to take. We knew we had to come here today and possibly come back and play again here tomorrow. They understood what was at stake.

“It was just a cascade in the first game. We had some walks, we had some miscues in the field and our bats were not alive. They new what they had to do.

“As coaches, we believe in them. We want them to succeed. It is up to them to go out and perform.”

Weber’s sacrifice fly in the third gave Weir a 1-0 lead.

The Red Riders got off to a fast start in the opener as the sectional champions plated six runs in the bottom of the first inning to build an early 6-0 advantage.

“It was a good start,” Leary said. “It was especially helpful for Eliza. It is like pitching for the Pirates where every pitch is vital because you’re not going to score a lot of runs, and you have to be careful. When you have a 6-0 lead, you can just throw. You know one mistake is not going to lose you the game or allow them to score a run. It was nice to start the game that way. It is nice to pitch with the lead.”

Utt picked up the win in the game as she struck out four without walking a batter. She allowed no runs on two hits.

Karson Drumm took the loss for Brooke. She did not record a strikeout while walking two.

The Red Riders outhit the Bruins, 10-2, in the game.

Emilee McKinney contributed a pair of singles to account for Brooke’s offense.

For Weir, Utt tallied two singles and three RBI, Weber recorded three singles and two RBI and Jaidyn Kelly collected two singles and two RBI. Also, Dean and Paladina each delivered a single and an RBI and Lash singled.

After scoring six runs in the first, Weir produced three runs in the third to increase its advantage to 9-0 before scoring three more runs in the fourth to make it 12-0.

The second game was the final one for Brooke’s three seniors – Emma Hayman, Emilee McKinney and Maia Diserio.

“It is a little harder now with one of them being my daughter,” Coach Diserio said. “All three are going to be hard to replace. I have coached all three in some fashion from pee-wee’s up to high school. You build relationships with them not only as just players on the field, but also has friends outside of it. We are going to have to have girls step up. We are going to have to replace Emma in right, Maia in left and Emilee at third. Those are big shoes we are going to have to fill. Those three girls were leaders on and off the field. They were our leaders.”

Weir and Brooke both defeated No. 2 seed North Marion (9-17) Tuesday at Weir. The Bruins rallied to defeat the Huskies, 6-5, in eight innings in the first game before the Red Riders recorded a 7-0 victory in the nightcap.

Game 1

Weir 12, Brooke 0

Brooke 000 00 – 0 2 6

Weir 603 3X – 12 10 0

BROOKE (7-20): Drumm LP (0K, 2BB) and Mag. Diserio. Em. McKinney 2S.

WEIR (24-7): Utt WP (4K, 0BB) and Barton. Utt 2S, 3RBI; Dean S, RBI; Weber 3S, 2RBI; Lash S; Kelly 2S, 2RBI; Paladina S, RBI.

Game 2

Weir 4, Brooke 2

Brooke 000 200 0 – 2 5 2

Weir 001 030 X – 4 7 0

BROOKE (7-21): McKinney LP (0K, 0BB) and Mag. Diserio. Ed. McKinney S, D; Wood S; Mai. Diserio D, RBI; Bober S, RBI.

WEIR (25-7): Utt WP (2K, 2BB) and Barton. Utt 2S, RBI; Dean S, RBI; Barton S, RBI; Weber S, RBI; Lash S; Paladina S.