WEIRTON — The Weir softball team took care of business against North Marion.

Weir – the No. 1 seed – was in control from the outset as the Red Riders recorded a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back en route to shutting out the second-seeded Huskies, 7-0, in a West Virginia Class AA Region 1 Section 1 game on a rainy Tuesday night up at the Roberta “Birdie” DeFrancis Softball Field.

“It was a really good day for the girls,” (23-7) Weir head coach John Leary said. “Eliza pitched effectively. She only gave up one hit. Overall, it was a good game. We put up seven runs. We were methodical today. We did what we had to do. We scored two, two and two and then we scored one. We scored throughout the game.

“Basically, they did what we asked them to do. We have a doubleheader tomorrow. The way we have been playing, we haven’t been very pleased with, so we cannot take anything for granted.

“Brooke bounced back in the first game. They were ahead, and then they gave up the lead. That can kill a team, but they bounced back, and they were able to push a run across and win the game.

“We beat them in a doubleheader here. That was later in the year. The bottom line is we are going to have to come out ready to play tomorrow. I’m sure Tommy (Diserio) is going to have his kids ready to play.”

With the win, Weir will now play No. 3 seed Brooke in the sectional final. The Red Riders and the Bruins will play a doubleheader starting at 5:30 p.m. today back at Weir. If necessary, the two teams will meet in a third game at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Weir.

“Right now, I don’t want to sound like Mr. Negative, but I don’t have the same team I came home from Tennessee with,” Leary said. “We have to hit the ball better. Their pitcher did an effective job against us. I think we only had four balls that were hit hard. We have to continue to work on that.

“Brooke sees it. We are not the same team we were earlier in the season. We have to get back to that if we want to advance in the postseason. We have to hit the ball better. We hit the ball pretty well today. We have to hit the ball hard.”

Eliza Utt picked up the win for the Red and Black. Utt struck out 14, while walking one. She only allowed one hit en route to the shutout.

Rayden Satterfield took the loss for the Huskies (9-17). She struck out five and walked one.

The Red Riders recorded 12 hits in the game – three of which went for extra bases.

Individually, Bella Weber tallied two singles, a double and four RBI, Utt collected a single, a triple and an RBI and Rayna Hoover recorded two singles and an RBI. Also, Loganne Barton contributed a single and an RBI, Kylie Dean delivered a single and a double and Brynn Artman and Gigi Paladina each produced a single.

Bella Talkington contributed a single for North Marion’s lone hit.

After scoring two in the first, the Red Riders plated a pair of runs in the third to extend their advantage to 4-0. The victors tacked on two more runs in the fifth to increase their advantage to 6-0 before tacking on another run in the sixth.

“One of our main goals at the beginning of the season as to get back to the regionals,” Leary said. “We want to win the sectionals, get back to the regionals and our big goal is to get back to the state tournament. We talked to them tonight before they left, and we told them we did what we had to do.

“If we are able to finish things off tomorrow, we will have 10 days off. Teams have this week and then next week to finish their sectionals. If we finish it off tomorrow, we are going to schedule some games between now and then. We have not played all of our regular season games. We have not played all 32. We are going to schedule some games to keep us sharp. We did that last year.

“We had two goals coming into the season. We wanted to win the OVACs, and we wanted to get back to the state tournament. We failed at the first one, but we still have the second one ahead of us.”

Brooke defeated North Marion, 6-5, in extra innings in Tuesday’s first sectional game.

The Bruins and the Red Riders are used to playing in all kinds of weather, so the two rivals will be prepared for any scenario today.

“The nice thing about the field we have is our girls are not fazed by the weather,” Leary said. “They know they are going to be playing. We have played in the freezing cold. We have played in the freezing cold with misty rain. We have played when it has been pouring down rain. It is nice because these girls are not fazed. They know we will be playing unless there are lightning strikes somewhere.”

Weir won both meetings against North Marion this season. The Red Riders shut out the Huskies, 9-0, March 26 at home.

“Give their pitcher credit,” Leary said. “She did a nice job tonight of keeping the ball out of the middle of the plate. She kept it on the edges. She did a good job. I have to give credit to their pitcher. She did not just throw the ball right down the middle of the plate. She was effective at keeping the ball out of the middle of the plate.”

Weir swept a doubleheader from Brooke, 9-0 and 8-3, April 15 at home.

“Survive and advance,” Leary said. “Jim Valvano said it best.”

Weir 7, North Marion 0

North Marion 000 000 0 – 0 1 1

Weir 202 021 X – 7 12 0

NORTH MARION (9-17): Satterfield LP (5K, 1BB) and Toothman. Talkington S.

WEIR (23-7): Utt WP (14K, 1BB) and Barton. Utt S, T, RBI; Hoover 2S, RBI; Dean S, D; Barton S, RBI; Weber 2S, D, 4RBI; Artman S; Paladina S.