Just two nights after losing 1-0 to Martins Ferry in the OVAC Class 3A championship game, the Maroon Knights rebounded with a 10-0 shellacking of third-seeded Tyler Consolidated in the opening game of the W.Va. Class AA Region I, Section I Tournament on Ben’s Field at the I-470 J.B. Chambers Complex in Elm Grove.

With the five-inning victory, No. 2 Wheeling Central (18-7) travels to New Manchester Thursday at 5 p.m. to face top-seeded Oak Glen in the double-elimination event. The loser will then play the Silver Knights (10-17) on Friday in an elimination contest. This is the Maroon Knights first appearance in Class AA in quite some time due to the SSAC going to four divisions this season.

“I wasn’t worried one bit about how these girls would respond,” Davidson said. “These girls usually come back after a tough loss like that. They keep their heads up and they know how to get from one game to the next.”

Junior Olivia Kiaski was nearly perfect inside the circle and classmate Maddie Miehle provided half of the Wheeling Central – which only collected four hits – runs as it took advantage of nine base-on-balls and a hit batter.

“She changed her speeds really well today,” Davidson said of Kiaski.

“She kept the hitters off balance.”

Kiaski struck out five and walked one in subbing for Seton Hill recruit Josie Frizzell.

The only hit she allowed was a single to center – the only ball to leave the infield – by No. 9 hitter Rylee Butler with two outs in the third.

She faced two batters over the minimum and threw 61 pitches, of which 45 were strikes. She went ahead 0-1 on 11 of the 17 Silver Knights she faced.

“I’d like to have that one pitch back,” Kiaski admitted. “It was a changeup. I love my changeup, though.”

Erin Maxwell gave Kiaski and the Maroon Knights all the runs they would need in the first inning with a two-run single off the glove of Tyler Consolidated shortstop Hailey Sandy. The smash scored Morgan Miehle and Chloe Groome.

Groome drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 3-0 in the second before Maddie Miehle greeted Sandy, who took over for McKenzie Utt in the circle, by slugging the first she saw over the fence in left for a grand slam and a 7-0 reading.

Miehle had gotten robbed twice in Monday’s loss to the Purple Riders despite hitting the ball hard both times.

“It feels good today. Against Martins Ferry I hit the ball hazard but it was right at them,” Miehle explained. “It was nice that I was able to hit one over the fence today.”

The home run was her second of the season, but her first grand slam.

“This was an important win for us. We battled back as a team and got it done today,” Miehle added.

Morgan Miehle doubled in two runs in the third and her older sister picked up a fifth RBI on a fielder’s choice as the margin grew to 10-0.

“We were able to take advantage of what they gave us,” Davidson said of the walks. “We’ve just got to keep it up because we’ve got a tough game tomorrow (Thursday) at Oak Glen.”