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Knights Will Play For State Title 

Bennington, Garlitz combine for 36 strikeouts

Photo by Joe Albright Jairika Baylor and Wheeling Central look to bring home a third consecutive state championship today.

VIENNA — Ask any coach at the W.Va. State Softball Tournament and they will tell you one of the major keys to winning a state championship is having pitching depth.

For the past two seasons, that has worked well for Wheeling Central with the dynamic duo of Riley Bennington and Marissa Garlitz.

That was clearly evident after Day 1 of the rain-delayed tournament at Jackson Memorial Park as Wheeling Central earned a trip to today’s championship game with an 8-2 victory against Sherman.

Garlitz, making her second start since a finger injury kept her out of the circle for a month, was just as impressive against the Tide as she was in a regional championship victory against St. Marys.

The senior struck out 12 and didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning.

“We had two great pitching performances,” Wheeling Central coach Buck Davidson said. “Marissa, second game back from that broken finger and you couldn’t have asked for anything more. She did not walk anybody and our girls finally came out hitting the ball the way we know how to hit. We had girls scoring runs. It was fun.

“It was a long day, but a long, long day still ahead.”

After being taken to the limit by Moorefield in the first game of the Class A tournament, Wheeling Central left little to doubt, scoring three runs in the first, followed by two in the second and third frames.

Freshman Jairika Baylor had three RBI singles for the Maroon Knights (20-5).

Kaitlyn Ferns added two singles with two RBI and Bennington, the hero of Game 1, hit two singles and a double with a RBI.

The Maroon Knights pounded 16 hits against Sherman’s Autumn Thompson, who gave Wheeling Central fits in last year’s title game.

“They know she likes to work on the outside part of the plate and we practiced that,” Davidson said. “The last month, we set the pitching machine on the outside part. Teams that know how we hit, that is what they want to do and try to take away some of our power.

“But when the girls keep their head down and hit the ball the opposite field the way they are supposed to, good things happen.”

The title game, set for 2:30 p.m., will be a rematch between one of Wednesday’s foes. Sherman and Moorefield face off at 10 a.m. in an elimination game. The winner must beat Wheeling Central twice to deny the Maroon Knights a third straight state championship.

Wheeling Central 5, Moorefield 3, 9 inn.

Bennington had a game for the ages and set a school record in the process.

With 23 strikeouts, the Maroon Knights senior was on fire. And if her performance in the circle wasn’t impressive enough, with the game tied at 3-3 in the ninth inning, Bennington drilled a two-run home run that proved to be the decisive base hit.

“That is Riley being Riley,” Davidson said. “She wants to be in those big tense situations like that and she is our best player and who we want in that situation.”

Moorefield had chances in the seventh and eighth innings to win it, as well as the tying runs in scoring position in the ninth, but each time Bennington got out of the jam with strikeouts to end the threat.

Wheeling Central took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth thanks to an Emilee Ondrik sacrifice fly and an error.

Moorefield’s Madison McGregor hit a home run to tie 2-2 it in the sixth.

The Maroon Knights went back in front with an RBI single from Ally Davidson in the eighth inning, only to see Moorefield prolong the game with an RBI single by Tori Humphries.

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