Photo by Andrew Grimm Weir High's Eliza Utt delivers a strike against Brooke on Tuesday. She had nine strikeouts in a complete game shutout effort for the Red Riders.

The Weir High softball team certainly has such an ace in senior returning All-Stater Eliza Utt.

Utt added another gem to her already impressive season Tuesday night, striking out nine batters without issuing a walk in a complete game shutout of rival Brooke.

She also helped her own cause at the plate with a homer, triple, single and three RBIs at the plate in what ended up being a 7-0 Red Riders victory.

“That’s the key to the whole thing — Eliza was lights out again,” veteran Weir High head coach John Leary said. “She was consistent, she was throwing strikes and around the plate the whole time. She had nine strikeouts and didn’t walk anyone, if she’s doing that, we like our chances any day.”

Photo by Andrew Grimm Brooke pitcher Avery Rado delivers to a Weir High batter.

The Red Riders youthful infield played errorless ball behind her as an improved Brooke team put some hard-hit balls in play.

“We’re young defensively, so when she is getting almost half of our outs herself with strikeouts, that helps a lot,” Leary said. “They had some hard hit balls and I was pleased with the way we played defensively. We didn’t make any errors and that always helps. We have basically five new starters in the field playing varsity softball for the first time.”

The victory was the Red Riders (7-2) second in as many days after suffering their first two losses of the season on March 28 in a doubleheader at unbeaten Martins Ferry and then having a week off last week.

“Last Saturday we were atrocious defensively and Martins Ferry really hits the ball hard, they always do. We had last week off and had four really good days of practice and worked on some things,” Leary said. “We’re off to a good start this week and hopefully we can keep that up, keep playing solid defensively.

“We were very disappointed with how we played against Martins Ferry. I give them credit, they’re a good team, they have been the first team to beat us the last two years. The kids have bounced back from that and taken a step forward. Hopefully they continue to improve and keep working hard. We have some more big games coming up.”

Photo by Andrew Grimm Weir High's Chlesea Devore reaches back to make a catch in the outfield.

In addition to Utt’s big day, Zoe Spencer had an inside the park homer and a single for a two-hit day and Bella Weber also drove in a run. A four-run third inning that took the score from 1-0 to 5-0 put the Red Riders in complete control.

“It was just a very solid game overall,” Leary said. “I was concerned coming down here because Tommy (Diserio) has his team playing better and they have won some games and scored some runs this season. I knew they would put the ball in play more than some of the teams we had seen.”

For Brooke (5-7), they knew it was going to be a challenge going against a veteran pitcher and a team that has some starters back from a state tournament run. They did manage four hits, but did not string anything together against Utt and never got a runner past second base.

“We have faced Eliza since 8U softball, so we know what to expect with her,” Brooke head coach Tom Diserio said. “She is a very disciplined pitcher, she has some great pitches. One thing we know she does consistently is she throws strikes, and we told the girls that. We told them we have to get her timing, we have to hit her. We weren’t able to do that. She is very effective and a very solid player all around.

“Seeing a pitcher like her should help us get better, that’s why we schedule teams that are disciplined and have good pitchers. Challenging ourselves will make us better for the end of the season when the tournament comes around.”

Photo by Andrew Grimm Brooke's Eden McKinney takes a swing at a pitch.

Five errors proved costly as they allowed four unearned runs. Pitcher Avery Rado struck out four and walked just one in trying to give the Bruins a chance to hang around.

“We lose 7-0, but four of the runs were unearned,” Diserio said. “If we don’t make some of the mistakes we did and can get to the last couple innings down three instead of seven, it’s a different mindset and feels more attainable. We have to learn to not let the mistakes compound and be able to bounce back and make the next play.”

Emma Teller had a double for Brooke’s only extra-base hit of the day.

UP NEXT

Weir High: Has a big game in the race for OVAC standings points today against Wheeling Park at home.

Photo by Andrew Grimm Weir High's Bella Weber tracks down a fly ball in right field.

Brooke: Is back at home today hosting Beaver Local.

Weir High 7, Brooke 0

WH 1-0-4 0-1-0 1 — 7 9 0

B 0-0-0 0-0-0 0 — 0 4 5

WEIR HIGH (7-2): Utt (WP, CG, 0R, 2H, 9K, 0BB) and Barton. Boleigh S; Utt HR, T, S, 3RBIs; Weber S, RBI; Spencer HR, S, RBI; Shockley S.

Photo by Andrew Gimm Brooke's Maggie Diserio makes contact with her swing.

BROOKE (5-7): Rado (LP, CG, 7R, 3ER, 4K, 1BB, 1HBP) and Diserio. Teller D; Hornick S; Martino S; Diserio S.

Photo by Andrew Grimm Weir High's Gracie Trifonoff makes a catch snagging a popup.

Photo by Andrew Grimm Brooke's Emma Teller makes a throw to first for an out.