Wheeling Central fell behind 4-0 heading into the bottom of the second inning, but exploded for five runs in the bottom half of the frame, and nine more in the third inning to pull away and punch their ticket to states.

Wheeling Central defeated St. Marys 11-3 on Thursday, and clinched the Class A, Region 1 title with their victory Saturday.

“I feel really, really happy for the girls,” Wheeling Central head coach Buck Davidson said. “They work hard, put in a lot of time since February when all this started, and I’m really proud of them because we were down four-nothing and we didn’t give up, and we just came back and got in a groove and started hitting the ball, and it just all took off from there.”

Olivia Kiaski finished with a colossal seven-RBI day, twice coming through with the bases loaded– hitting a grand slam and a bases-clearing double, and providing enough offense to top the Blue Devils herself between those two at-bats.

Kiaski also earned the win inside the circle, striking out two.

Chloe Groome and Maddie Miehle also hit doubles on a day where the Maroon Knights collected 14 hits as a team.

Miehle ha two RBI, as did Erin Maxwell, who hit two singles Saturday and scored thrice.

Groome finished with a game-high three hits.

“The girls are real close,” Davidson said. “They believe in each other and they realize once one gets going, hitting is contagious and so is playing in the field and they just feed off of each other and keep playing.

The last time Wheeling Central was in the state tournament was seven seasons ago, and the Maroon finished as state runners-up.

Davidson wants to see his team make another run at it.

“It feels good. Our program has a rich history of making it downstate,” Davidson said. “I do believe we have 12 state championships. Hopefully we can add one more for the school.”

The state tournament will be held Wednesday, May 27 through Thursday, June 4 at South Charleston’s Little Creek Park.