Photo Provided The Oak Glen softball team punched its ticket to the state tournament with a 10-2 victory over Keyser on Wednesday in the Class AA, Region 1 Championship Series.

From staff reports

KEYSER — The Oak Glen softball team is headed back to the WVSSAC Class AA State Tournament.

The Golden Bears, the defending state runners-up, punched their ticket for a return to Charleston next week by completing a sweep of Keyser in the Region 1 Championship Series on Tuesday with a 10-2 victory.

Oak Glen claimed Game 1 of the best-of-three, 6-3, at home on Monday.

The Golden Bears, who have been vocal about their mission of getting back to Charleston and winning a state title all season, left little doubt they would be advancing with a fast start, plating three runs in the top of the first and opening a 9-1 lead through the first three innings.

“Our number one goal when we were at our end of the season banquet (last summer) was to return,” Oak Glen head coach Sherrie Garner said. “We knew we had a veteran squad that had the capabilities to strive for such a goal. We worked on a schedule to play tough competition so that we could find a way to get better every game.

“Through each game we remained focused taking one game at a time. That brings us to winning regions and representing Region 1 in the WVSSAC softball state tournament.”

Just like in the Section 1 tournament, Oak Glen showed off its strong 1-2 combination of pitching.

After Maddie McKay, the Toledo commit, pitched a solid game on Monday, Lizzie Kell continued her strong tournament by striking out 10 in going the distance on Tuesday.

McKay had a double, single and three RBIs for the Golden Bears in the clincher, while Kell also had a pair of base knocks and drove in three runs.

Olivia Munoz crushed a solo homer, while Sydney Brown had a double, single and two RBIs and Kenna Calahan doubled in a run.

The Golden Bears (26-2) will meet four-time defending Class AA state champion Herbert Hoover in the first game of the double-elimination state tournament, with the opener set for 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday at Little Creek Park Rock Field B in South Charleston.

Herbert Hoover, the Region 2 champion, is 21-3 and is going for a record-tying fifth consecutive state title, while the Golden Bears will be looking for some revenge for last season’s final.

The other teams in the four-team bracket are Shady Spring, the Region 3 champion, and Winfield, who claimed the Region 4 title.

“On a scale of 0-10 excitement, we’re at 100,” Garner said. “The team feels the love and support of our families, friends, school, community, and the OVAC softball community at large, which keeps us thrilled for more games ahead.”