MAKING THE THROW — Weir High’s Rayna Hoover makes a throw for an out after fielding the ball with teammate Brooklyn Hawthorn backing up the play against John Marshall on Wednesday. -- Kim North

GLEN DALE — There were a lot of high expectations for the John Marshall softball this spring. Rightfully so, with three college signees — one a Division I recruit — in the lineup.

So far, no disappointments.

The Monarchs (4-0) banged out 14 hits — half of them going for extra bases — and received lights-out pitching in a 10-4 decision over visiting Weir High (7-3) Wednesday afternoon at windy and chill-filled Monarch Field.

“It seems like every game so far somebody has stepped up and come through for us,” veteran John Marshall head coach Ed West said. “Tonight it was Carlee Yoho. She had a good game at the plate and made a couple of nice plays in the field.”

Scoring once in the bottom of the first and four times in the second gave John Marshall a seemingly-comfortable 5-0 advantage heading into the third. Ava Blake’s RBI single up the middle made it 1-0 before her 2-run homer highlighted the 4-run second that also featured a run-scoring base hit by Yoho, who finished with two singles, a double and two RBI. Masyn Inclan had an RBI double prior to Blake’s no-doubter to left.

John Marshall seemed to be on cruise control with Cumberledge inside the circle. After all, she had been perfect through two frames and only threw 16 pitches.

However, the Red Riders collected five hits and scored four runs in the inning to pull within, 5-4, something that concerned West.

“I was a little bit disappointed,” he admitted. “AC started the game and looked pretty sharp. She was keeping them off-balance with her changeup, and then all of a sudden, they get a couple of nice hits and a girl hits one out of the park. Next thing you know it’s 5-4.”

Elle Maley tripled off the glove of a diving JM left fielder Paytyn Tucker to chase home Eliza Utt. Maley would be thrown out at home trying to score on a groundout, but Reagan Hoover kept the inning alive with a single to center. Brayley Lash’s double off the fence in center scored Hoover and Lash came home on Phia Aperfine’s fourth home run of the season, a blast well over the fence in left-center.

“We did some good things and we did some horrible things,” Weir High head coach John Leary admitted. “The first two innings I wasn’t pleased at all with our at-bats. I am pleased that we didn’t roll over when they went up 5-0. We bounced right back with those four runs in the third, but we’re shooting ourselves in the foot – both offensively and defensively – with mistakes.

“You can’t do that against a good team, and John Marshall is one of the better Class AAA teams in the state. That’s why I play them every year,” Leary said. “They were in the state tournament last year. That’s where I want to be and the only way we can do that is to compete against teams like this.”

John Marshall made it 7-4 in the fifth when Kadence Pettit doubled and courtesy runner Tori Finley scored on pinch hitter Carlie Keyser’s double down the right field line. Kaylee White drove in Keyser with a sacrifice fly.

The count rose to 10-4 in the sixth when Blake dropped a double down the right field line and, with two outs, raced home on a Yoho single. Pettit then sent a 2-1 pitch to deep left to cap the scoring.

Cumberledge retired the Red Riders in order in the fourth before giving way to Pettit, a West Liberty recruit. The fireballer fanned four of the first five Red Riders she faced and was perfect until Rylee Donaldson singled to center with an out in the seventh. Pettit struck out the next two to end the 1-hour, 40-minute contest.

“The pitching change was something that was already planned,” West noted. “I told the girls yesterday (Tuesday) who was going to pitch and when they were going to pitch. Kadence started and went four last night. AC was going to do the same thing tonight. We’ve got a lot of games coming up and I don’t want anyone to be stressed out.”

Blake missed the cycle by a triple.

Utt took the loss.

The Monarchs remain at home today as Parkersburg visits for a 7:30 p.m. first-pitch.

John Marshall 10, Weir High 4

Weir High 004 000 0 – 4 6 1

John Marshall 140 023 x – 10 14 1

WH-Utt lp (2K, 3BB) and Aperfine; Lash S, rbi; Aperfine HR, 2rbi; Maley T, rbi

JM-Cumberledge wp (2K, 0BB), Pettit sv (5), (6K, 0BB) and Thayer, Inclan (7); Inclan D, rbi; Blake S, D, HR, 3rbi; Yoho 2S, D, 2rbi; Pettit D, HR, 2rbi; Keyser D, rbi; White SF, rbi