Photo courtesy of the WVSSAC IN THE CIRCLE — Brooke's Avery Rado pitches during the Bruins' matchup with Winfield in the opening round of the Class AAA state tournament on Tuesday.

SOUTH CHARLESTON — The Brooke softball team’s first trip to the state tournament in 23 years got off to a rough start against Winfield.

The Bruins committed some early errors against the Generals, and Mattie Carroll got the job done inside the circle and at the plate for Winfield as she pitched a no-hitter while finishing with two hits and two RBIs leading the second-seeded Generals to an 8-0 victory against the seventh-seeded Bruins in four-and-a-half innings in Game 4 of the West Virginia Class AAA State Tournament Tuesday afternoon on Rock Field B inside Little Creek Park.

“It’s definitely a different atmosphere than we have played in all year,” Brooke (18-17) head coach Tommy Diserio said. “It is a lot bigger stage, but it is still just a ballgame and we did not execute. We gave up eight unearned runs, and we did not produce anything offensively. When you do that, you are not going to win. We came out and were not sound on defense, and we did not produce anything on offense and when you do that you have zero chance of coming out on top on the scoreboard.”

With the win, Winfield (25-10) will play Herbert Hoover (26-8) in a semifinal Wednesday morning.

Brooke went into the loser’s bracket on Tuesday night.

The Generals have won three-straight state titles with the first two coming in Class AA with the third coming last season in Class AAA.

Carroll picked up the win inside the circle for the Generals. She struck out 11 without walking a batter in her five innings of work. Carroll struck out five-straight batters at one point, and she had nine strikeouts through the first four innings.

“The scouting reports was 100 percent accurate,” Diserio said. “She threw the ball inside. She had the inside lane working. She was effective. She hit her spots. We practiced for it. We were prepared for it, but we did not execute properly.”

Avery Rado took the loss for the Bruins. Rado did not record a strikeout while walking three in her four innings of work.

The Generals struck first with three runs in the bottom of the first to take the early advantage. Ava Cole led off the inning by reaching on an error, and the second baseman ended up on second on the play. After a lineout, catcher Rylee McClellan reached on an infield single before stealing second base to put two runners in scoring position. Then, Brooklyn Cole walked to load the bases. After a pop-up resulted in the second out, Madelyn Taylor drew a bases-loaded walk to plate Ava Cole with the game’s first run to give Winfield a 1-0 lead. Then, Ella Black collected a single to center scoring McClellan and Brooklyn Cole to give the Generals a 3-0 advantage. With two runners on base, the girls in black were able to get out of the inning thanks to a fielder’s choice.

The girls from Putnam County extended their advantage in the second. Barrett Hardin started the inning off by reaching on an error before moving up second on a single by Ava Cole. The duo advanced a base on a sacrifice bunt by Sienna Smith. Then after a flyout, Brooklyn Cole reached on Brooke’s third error of the day scoring both baserunners to increase Winfield’s advantage out to 5-0. Brooklyn ended up on third on the play, and she scored on a single to center by Carroll making the score 6-0. Taylor followed with a single of her own, but once again a fielder’s choice ended the inning.

“They are a solid ball team,” Diserio said. “We did not account for their history. They are fundamentally sound. They hit the ball, but the unearned runs is what got us today.”

The victors were retired in order for the only time in the third.

The Generals increased their advantage in the fourth. Emeri Nelson, who batted for Smith, reached on Brooke’s fourth error, and she scored on a two-out triple to center by Carroll to make the score, 7-0. Taylor followed with a double scoring Kennedy Hylton, who came in to run for Carroll, to make it, 8-0, before a flyout ended the inning.

Carroll retired the Bruins in order in the fifth to bring the game to an end.

Winfield 8, Brooke 0

Brooke 000 00 – 0 0 4

Winfield 330 1X – 8 7 0

BROOKE (18-17): Rado LP (0K, 3BB) and Diserio.

WINFIELD (25-10): Carroll WP (1K, 0BB) and McClellan. A. Cole S; McClellan S; Carroll S, T, 2RBI; Taylor S, D, 2RBI; Black S, 2RBI.