ELM GROVE – John Marshall posted a pair of one-run wins over Morgantown during the regular season.

The rain-delayed OVAC 5A Tournament semifinals Saturday at the J.B. Chambers I-470 Complex between those same two teams was more of the same as the top-seeded Lady Monarchs pulled out a well played 5-4 victory on Ben’s Field. In the process, Coach Rob Blake’s youthful squad punched its ticket into the conference championship game against University, which downed Steubenville in the other semifinal.

“I thought we played well today,” Blake said. “We beat a good team. We have had three tough battles with them.

“Lily (Dijkstra) pitched a solid game for us. She has done it all year for us,” added the third-year John Marshall boss. “Defensively, we made all the plays we had to make while we got just enough hitting. It was a very nice win.”

John Marshall is now a sparkling 21-4 on the campaign. The Lady Monarchs are ranked No. 1 in WVSSAC Class AAA.

Morgantown dropped to 16-8.

Dijkstra did yeoman’s work in the circle for the winners. She struck out two and walked five, four of those, however, were of the intentional variety to Morgantown slugger Maddie Wisman.

John Marshall wasted no time in taking control, scoring three times in its first at-bat.

Nora Shock led off with a single. Kaylee White followed with an RBI double. White moved to third on a groundout and came home on a passed ball. Elaina Taylor coaxed a base-on-balls and later scored on a throwing error.

Morgantown got a run back in the second frame via an RBI double from Carper Messerly. The Lady Mohigans knotted the affair at 3-3 in the fourth on the strength of a two-run homer off the bat of Grace Robinson.

John Marshall regained the lead in the home half of the fourth.

Aubrey Lilley doubled and was plated by a Ella Finley sacrifice fly. The Lady Monarchs added what proved-to-be the game-winning run in the fifth. Emma King singled, moved to second on a passed ball before advancing to third on a wild pitch. She scored on an error by the Morgantown first baseman.

Morgantown didn’t go quietly.

Robinson led off the seventh with a double off the left-centerfield wall. She scored on a sacrifice fly, but Dijkstra shut the door by inducing a groundout to second base.

“It feels really good playing for a championship,” Blake said. “After a couple of tough season we are starting to get back to where this program used to be. Winning an OVAC would mean a great deal to this bunch.

“Last year we played a lot of freshmen. And now we are playing seven sophomores,” he added. “All our girls have worked hard to improve. It is an enjoyable group to coach.

Wisman took the pitching loss despite performing fine in the circle. She yielded just six hits while fanning seven and walking two.

Lilley was the lone Lady Monarch to record two hits.

Messerly, Robinson and Madi Stone each had two hits for Morgantown.

John Marshall and University will vie for the OVAC 5A championship Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the J.B. Chambers Complex.