Gallery by Heather Belcher
Fayetteville – Sophia Little League Softball All-Stars head coach Brent Haga is not opposed to being the visiting team.
Haga readily admits he prefers it that way.
“I like to be the visiting team from the coin toss, so we can come out swinging and hitting the ball,” Haga explained. “We want to make a statement early in the game and keep the bats going.”
Friday night on George Frantz Field at the Fayetteville Little League Park, Sophia followed Haga’s plan to the letter in the District 4 championship game.
Led by Kylee Jones at the plate and in the circle, Sophia scored early and cruised to a 10-0 win over Beckley in four innings.
Both teams will now move on to the W.Va. State Little League Softball Tournament starting July 7 back in Fayetteville.
“We have the defense, we just need to hit the ball and score some runs,” Haga said. “You have to hit the ball to win the games and we did that today.”
Baylee Alderman revved up the Sophia machine with a lead-off triple before Jones followed with a single for a 1-0 lead.
Brenleigh Haga kept the momentum going when she doubled home the lightning quick Jones from first base.
A Beckley throwing error in the second inning and a wild pitch in the third helped Sophia build a 4-0 lead prior to a six-run outburst in the fourth.
The trouble for Beckley started with a one-out error followed by a single from Hailey Lemon and a walk to Emma Crawford to load the bases.
Kenleigh Whitt was then hit by a pitch, scoring the first run of the stanza, bringing the hot-hitting Jones to the dish.
Jones cleared the bases with a triple and later scored on a wild pitch for a 9-0 lead. Sophia later added the final run on the fifth Beckley error of the game.
Along with tormenting Beckley at the plate, Jones was stellar in the circle allowing only two hits and striking out six.
One night removed from an emotional win over Fayetteville to secure a state tournament berth, Beckley was not quite on its game Friday.
After dropping game of the tournament, Beckley fought its way to the championship game with victories over Princeton and Trap Hill before beating Fayetteville 1-0 in a thriller Thursday.
“We have practiced for weeks. We go two-and-a-half hours in the morning and in the evenings. It has been hard on them, but they come together when needed,” Beckley head coach Jessica Yonts said. “Some days we have some breakdowns and today wasn’t our day. Maybe if we had a day in between games, but we practice so much. I expect a lot out of them. We played so many game to get here and it was a lot of pressure. They all knew if we lost (before today) that we were out.”
