Morgantown High flips script on Parkersburg South, wins OVAC softball title

Dominion Post

03-05-2025

WHEELING – One of Morgantown's darkest days as a softball team this season came at the hands of Parkersburg South.
The two schools met for a second time Friday night at Wheeling Park High School for the OVAC Class 5A Championship. Again the day was dark, but only initially due to the black skies above which delayed the first pitch two hours.
Once the ball was in play, Morgantown turned the tables and defeated the Patriots 3-1. Parkersburg South, which opened the season with a 10-0 win over the Mohigans with basically the same personnel in the lineup, slips to 16-7 after playing its final game as a member of the conference.
Beginning with the 2025-26 winter sports season, all South athletics play under the Mountain State Athletic Conference umbrella.
'I really don't know what to expect in the MSAC,' South coach Tim Burch said. 'I know some of the teams in it, but yes I will miss coming out here and playing some of these teams in the OVAC.
'I'm looking forward to playing some of the new teams (from the MSAC).'
On the flip side, Mohigans improved to 19-9 and duplicated their OVAC title in the same manner from last year when they won as the No. 4 seed.
'We played Parkersburg South in our second game of the season – we were facing a very good pitcher, and we didn't do so well,' Morgantown coach Lorri Lipscomb said. 'Then we went to Myrtle Beach and we faced a lot of good teams. It's all similar pitching down there and I think that helped us get better.
'These girls have tons of confidence right now. They are a very special group of young ladies and they truly care about each other. That's huge – it's like a reset when somebody makes a mistake and they come back and play harder.'
Morgantown blindsided Parkersburg South at the outset when Liz Alsop homered over the left field fence with two outs in the top of the first inning – the first homer allowed by South starting pitcher Anniston Shelton in her first 87 innings of her high school career.
'I was just trying to start hot and get some energy going for our team,' Alsop said. 'Honestly, the first time we played them we weren't as prepared as we should have been. We knew tonight would be a completely new ballgame.
'They are a good team, but we had a good game tonight.'
The Mohigans tacked on a second run in the next inning in what would prove to be the eventual game-winning run. Beth Robinson singled, and with two outs No. 9 hitter Madi Stone grounded to the third baseman. A throwing error to first base allowed Robinson to advance three bases and increase the lead to 2-0.
South's offense was stagnant for the first three innings as Morgantown starting pitcher Maddie Wisman retired the first 10 batters she faced. The junior eventually worked all seven innings – allowing five hits and no walks while striking out nine during that time.
'Definitely two different games between us and South this season,' Wisman said. 'We didn't get our spring trip yet so we weren't exactly fully prepared. We didn't really come into that game with the right mentality.
'The first time we played South, it was 0-0 in like the third or fourth inning, so having that home run by Liz was absolutely amazing. It gave me so much more confidence on the mound.'
The Patriots started to create traffic on the basepaths beginning in the fourth inning with Shelton's one-out double. A Morgantown error on the infield put runners on first and second. A fielder's choice erased the runner at second trying to advance to third base, and after a wild pitch Robinson made a running catch toward the infield to end the threat.
Kailey Lockhart and Shelton both produced a one-out single in innings five and six, but South failed to find that clutch hit.
Morgantown extended the lead to 3-0 in the fifth inning. Robinson reached safely on an infield single, and following two of Shelton's 12 strikeouts, Wisman legged out an infield single. Robinson, who was at second base at the time, didn't stop at third and managed to advance two bases on the infield grounder then cross home plate.
South didn't totally go away empty-handed. Brylee Hatcher, who was robbed of a base hit in the second inning when Alsop covered significant ground from center field and dove just before the ball touched the turf for the putout, led off the seventh inning with a double to the right-center field gap.
With one out, Kailey Lockhart took the first offering from Wisman and singled to put runners at first and third base. With two outs and Shyanne Hays facing an 0-2 count, Wisman threw a wild pitch to allow Hatcher to score.
Hays eventually hit a sky high pop up to Wisman, who gloved it for the final out.
'We played a good team,' Burch said. 'I told our girls that sometimes someone plays better than you and that was the case tonight.
'We hit it, we sprayed it. We just didn't put them together. I was proud of the girls because they never gave up. Even to the last inning.'
South played the final five innings without starting catcher Payten Mackey, who received a foul tip directly at her face mask for the second time in as many innings.
'Yes, Payten took a couple of shots,' Burch said. 'She took one in the beginning of the game and it worried me. Then the second one. I didn't care what the trainer said, she wasn't playing any more. She checked out OK, no concussion or stuff like that, but she was done for the night after that.'
M 110 010 0 – 3 5 1
PS 000 000 1 – 1 5 1
WP: Maddie Wisman 7.0IP 5H 1R 1ER 0BB 9SO
LP: Anniston Shelton 7.0IP 5H 3R 2ER 2BB 12SO
Morgantown (19-9): Anne Robinson 2-4, run, 3B, SB: Grace Robinson SB; Liz Alsop 1-3, run, HR, RBI; Maddie Wisman 2-3, RBI; Beth Robinson 1-3, run
Parkersburg South (16-7): Anniston Shelton 2-3, 2B; Brylee Hatcher 1-3, run, 2B; Kailey Lockhart 2-3
— Story by Kerry Patrick