Photo by Andrew Grimm Oak Glen’s Lizzie Kell delivers in relief during the seventh inning of Thursday’s Class AA Region 1, Section 1 game. Kell fanned all six batters she faced for a two-inning save.

By ANDREW GRIMM

For The Intelligencer

NEW MANCHESTER — Oak Glen’s 1-2 combination of Maddie McKay and Lizzie Kell has been lethal all season.

East Fairmont found out just how dominant the duo can be first hand in Thursday’s Section 1 tournament contest.

McKay struck out 11 in five nearly perfect innings, with the lone blemish being a walk in the fifth, and Lizzie Kell closed things out by striking out all six batters she faced in the final two innings to complete the combined no-hitter in a 5-0 win over the visiting Bees.

“Our pitching was fantastic, Maddie and Lizzie both,” Oak Glen head coach Sherrie Garner said. “Lizzie came in and pitched fantastic. She gets her stride in and gets her pitches where they need to be and hits her spots, and girls get caught swinging or looking at it.

“They complement each other well. They have had the opportunity to work together for two years now. It’s a nice 1-2 to have with a righty-lefty or lefty-righty combination. They keep batters guessing and it’s nice to have an exchange of speeds and movement.”

Thanks to catcher Sarah Brown throwing out the lone East Fairmont base runner on a steal attempt, the Oak Glen (22-2) duo faced the minimum.

East Fairmont (4-14) pitcher Marissa Delbrook held serve for the first two innings to keep her team in a scoreless game, but the Bears potent bats could not be held down forever as Sydney Brown crushed a solo shot to straight-away center, then Kenna Calahan doubled and scored from third when McKay put a ground ball in play for a 2-0 lead.

That remained the score until the bottom of the fifth when Calahan blasted another solo shot to nearly the same spot as Brown’s bomb two innings prior.

“I think everybody put the bat on the ball, that’s all we can ask is put the ball in play and make things happen,” Garner said. “Nobody struck out. We challenged the girls because this is it, it’s the tournament and you have to work hard every day. We know we’re going to get everyone’s best.”

After Kell took over and fanned the side in the top of the sixth, as McKay had done in the second and third innings on a run of 10-straight strikeouts, McKayla Zoellers and Brown added to the lead with RBI groundouts.

The Bears had other potential scoring threats taken away by some good defensive plays in the field by the Bees, but East Fairmont just could not solve the Bears duo in the circle to hang around.

“They got a couple big hits and we just couldn’t get girls on base,” East Fairmont coach Steve Swiger said. “Their pitchers did a great job, but I thought so did mine, and our defense was phenomenal and gave us a chance.”

FINALLY ABLE TO PLAY

After being rained out Tuesday and the field being unplayable Wednesday, the game finally was able to be played Thursday thanks to the work of the field prep crews.

“Our girls (Wednesday) worked on it, our parents worked on it,” Garner said. “The county maintenance department does the upkeep of the field and they love the help. They did a fantastic job, along with our girls, our staff and faculty — we had students, kids passing by from gym class and community volunteers and kid’s friends.

“It’s a community effort and we can’t ask for a better community. The community supports and loves these girls and have watched them play all their lives.”

UP NEXT

East Fairmont: The Bees, who earned the No. 4 seed by winning the best-of-three play-in series earlier in the week, will face cross-town rival Fairmont Senior in an elimination game in the loser’s bracket scheduled for today, weather permitting. The Polar Bears were defeated by No. 2 seed Weir High on Wednesday.

“We have a matchup with an in-town rival and I know I’m excited to play them again and the girls are as well,” Swiger said.

Oak Glen: The Golden Bears will also face a rival as the Red Riders come to the Field of Dreams for the second round of the winner’s bracket in a rematch of last week’s OVAC Class 4A final. The winner advances to the sectional final, where it would have to be beaten twice, while the loser will take on the winner of the East Fairmont-Fairmont Senior game for a spot in the final round.

“We’re going to have another opportunity to play them and by predictions, that was the way it was going to end up,” Garner said. “We’re looking forward to the challenge and bringing our best game.”