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WEIRTON -- The battery jump started the Oak Glen softball team against Hancock County rival Weir.
Pitcher Lizzie Kell collected 14 strikeouts and she helped her own cause with a run scored, while catcher Sarah Brown recorded three hits, three runs, two RBI and a stolen base leading the No. 2 seed Golden Bears to a 7-1 victory against the top-seeded Red Riders in a West Virginia Class AA Region 1 Section 1 winner's bracket game on an overcast Monday evening on the road.
Brown and Kell also caught a pop-up on back-to-back batters in the bottom of the third inning.
"They were on today," Oak Glen (22-8) head coach Sherrie Garner said. "When I walked in when I arrived, it was 1-0. That was a good thing.
"In my tenure, we have had Hannah Clunk and Maddie McKay, Lizzie has surpassed the single season strikeout record. She now has 280. She is our workhorse. She has pitched well for three years."
Kell collected the win for her team as she only allowed one run on four hits. She did not walk a batter, but she did hit one.
"The difference in the last three years since I have been the head coach is when they need to execute, when they need to get a bunt down, when they have to put the ball in play and when they need to make plays, they make them, while we don't," Weir (15-18) head coach John Leary said. "We tried to bunt twice, and we fouled it off. We had two errors in the field. When you the ball as well as they do, especially as well as they do at the top of the order, mistakes will kill you.
"We lost 7-1, and we made multiple errors. That has been the case the last three years. When we have made multiple mistakes, they have not only beaten us, they have beaten us going away. They beat us 9-0 once, and 7-1 today.
"I told them in the huddle, there was a discrepancy in hits. It was 7-1, and they had seven hits and we had four. The difference was we struck out 14 times. In the game of softball, you get 21 outs. We only put the ball in play seven times. You're not going to win when you do that.
"They outplayed us. They out-executed us. As long as that continues to be the difference, they are going to continue to beat us. It's that simple, they are going to beat us.
"We can't have errors, and we can't strikeout 14 times. If we continue to do those things, the result will be the same Wednesday if we strikeout 14 times again.
"I have to give credit to Lizzie. She got the job done."
With the win, Oak Glen has today off, and the Golden Bears have advanced to the sectional final at home where they will need to be beaten twice to be eliminated.
"Our next game will be at Oak Glen," Garner said. "That was important. We wanted to show we can play.
"All roads go through Weir. They have been great competition the last three years in the sectional. I'm proud of our girls. They competed. They did a good job."
With the loss, Weir will now have to play No. 4 seed Fairmont Senior in an elimination game at 5:30 p.m. today at home. Fairmont Senior shut out No. 3 seed North Marion in an elimination game Monday on the road to advance to today's game.
"We have got to win tomorrow," Leary said. "What did Jim Valvano say -- survive and advance? We are going to have to survive tomorrow. It's not over until they get the 21st out in our second loss. Until then, we have a shot.
"We are going to have to take it one inning at a time -starting tomorrow. We have to win tomorrow to get a shot at them on Wednesday. We have beaten them once, and they have beaten us twice. It's 2-1 on the season."
The Red Riders defeated the Polar Bears, 9-1, in five innings Saturday at home.
Kell has recently shined this year as Oak Glen's ace after being the team's No. 2 behind Maddie McKay the previous two years.
"Absolutely, there is a difference," Garner said about Kell taking over as the team's ace and becoming it's workhouse. "She has shared time this season with Maddie Murray, who is our backup.
"They are different pitchers. They throw different speeds. They complement each other. Lizzie is a senior leader."
Eliza Utt took the loss for Weir. Utt struck out one and walked one in 4 1/3 innings of work inside the circle. She allowed seven runs on seven hits. Rylee Donaldson came on in relief with one out in the fifth. Donaldson did not record a strikeout while walking a batter in her 2 2/3 innings of work.
Utt retired the first two batters she faced, however, Brown belted a home run over the fence in center to give the visitors a 1-0 lead in the first.
The Red-and-Black had an opportunity to knot the score in the home half of the inning as Sophia Aperfine was hit by a pitch with two outs, and the catcher advanced to third on a double by Rayna Hoover. The hosts had two runners in scoring position, however, Kell recorded her third strikeout of the inning to pitch her self out of harm's way.
Utt came up big in the second inning for Weir. First, the freshman ace did not allow a run, while striking out one in the top of the inning. Then with one out in the bottom half of the inning, Utt launched a solo home run over the fence in center to knot the score at 1.
The game remained deadlocked until the Golden Bears plated three runs in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead. Oak Glen erupted for three more runs in the fifth to gain complete control.
"We played small ball with runners on base," Garner said. "We got great base-running there from Addie Smith to score a run on that play. She's always using her head. She's always looking to make the play on offense or defense. She did a good job. All the girls did a good job."
Brown led off the fourth with a single, and she moved to third on a single by Liz Munoz right down the line in right. Brown ended up scoring on a groundout to second to regain the lead for the victors at 2-1. Then, Munoz and Smith scored on an error to give the Golden Bears a 4-1 advantage.
Oak Glen extended its advantage in the fifth. First, Brown singled home a run, Munoz plated a run with a sacrifice fly and Smith singled home another run to increase the Golden Bears' lead to 7-1.
"Every ounce of it," Garner said asked how much of a role has Brown played in the pitching success of Kell and McKay in the last three years. "She's phenomenal. She's encouraging. She knows what she's doing. She's able to throw runners out. She has earned a reputation of being able to throw out base runners. She does a great job behind the plate. They know she's going to catch. They know if they have to throw their off-speed stuff that she is going to stop it."
Smith also tallied a double in the seventh, while Sydney Brown singled and scored in the fifth.
Utt singled in her second at-bat for Weir, and Reagan Hoover also recorded a base hit.
"I have watched both, and the difference is Maddie came right at you," Leary said. "Lizzie gets strikeouts because she can put the ball exactly where she wants to put it.
"In the first game against us, she walked seven. She was struggling early in the season, but then she found her groove. She has been pitching like she can. She no-hit us in the sectional final (last year).
"She's a good pitcher. She puts the ball where she wants it. You chase the ball. She's able to get ahead, and then you chase it. She's able to get ahead on you, and then you end up swinging like you're in middle school.
"You talk to the girls about hitting. You talk to them about hitting pitches in different locations. You work on that, and then the game comes and all of that flies out of their minds and they become undisciplined."
Oak Glen 7, Weir 1
Oak Glen 100 330 0 – 7 7 0
Weir 010 000 0 – 1 4 2
OAK GLEN (22-8): Kell WP (14K, 0BB) and Sa. Brown. Sy. Brown S; Sa. Brown 2S, HR, 2 RBI; Munoz S, RBI; Smith S, D, RBI; Murray RBI.
WEIR (15-18): Utt LP (4 1/3IP, 1K, 1BB), Donaldson (2 2/3IP, 0K, 1BB) and Aperfine. Re. Hoover S; Ra. Hoover D; Utt S, HR, RBI.