A 13-0 victory over visiting Bridgeport (WV) in five innings Friday marked another dominant display for a Monarchs team that feels as though they are finding a new gear to go into.

“I think after Tuesday’s loss, we challenged them to stay back on the pitches and hit it where it’s pitched, and they did that against Parkersburg on Wednesday, and they did it again tonight,” John Marshall head coach Robbie Blake said. “We worked on it again last night in practice. We’re staying the course, and if we keep hitting like we are, with our defense having been great all year, we can make a run at this thing.”

John Marshall took one of their three regular-season losses on Tuesday, falling to Warren 7-6 in eight innings, before turning things around in a big way on Wednesday, beating Parkersburg 20-1.

The Monarchs are now 14-3 on the year after their Friday victory over the Indians. John Marshall was ranked No. 2 in Class AAA in this week’s MetroNews Coaches Poll.

“I mean, we’re not even close to peaking where we need to be yet,” Blake said. “I got three seniors, we’re relatively young, a big sophomore class, a couple freshmen thrown in there. I think that once everything starts clicking, we’re going to be really decent.”

Against Bridgeport, sophomore pitcher Lily Dijkstra reached 100 career strikeouts to end the top of the fourth inning, blowing a fastball by the batter for her second strikeout of the inning.

Dijkstra has been an ace for John Marshall this year and finished with nine strikeouts on the day, allowing just one hit in her five-inning shutout victory.

“I got three pitchers and they’ve all thrown fantastic this year,” Blake said. “Lily has had some of the tougher games, and she’s battled and competed. Every time she steps on the hill, I feel confident that we had a chance to win. I’m happy for her to get her 100th, but there’s gonna be plenty more where that came from.”

Offensively, it was the bottom of the lineup which turned in big days for John Marshall. Emma King and Aubrey Lilley combined for six hits and seven RBI on Friday. King cracked a solo home run over the left field fence in the bottom of the fourth and doubled twice to finish 3-3 with four RBI, while Lilley doubled as part of her own 3-3 day with three RBI.

Masyn Inclan hit a triple and drove in two, Nora Shock doubled and drove in a run, and Ella Finley tripled and drove one in.

King said all of his players can hit.

“We hit all the way through, and I got subs that can come in just like they did the other night at Parkerburg. They come in and Gianna Polsinelli hits a home run, and all the subs I put in to hit, they all had base hits. So I mean, what more can you ask for? This whole group can hit. So I’m pretty pumped about them.”

John Marshall led 5-0 after the first inning and 11-0 after two.

The Monarchs next face rival Wheeling Park, hosting the Patriots on Monday.