Gallery by Tina Laney
Sophia rolled through the District 4 Little League Softball All-Star Tournament undefeated.
On Day 1 of the State Tournament played at Fayetteville Town Park Sunday, Sophia kept the momentum going.
After starting the day with an 11-4 win over Craigsville, Sophia took a 2-1 pitcher’s duel over Hedgesville in the nightcap.
Sophia will now play Hite Saunders Tuesday at 5:30 p.m for the Mountaineer Bracket title and a spot in the championship series.
Following two scoreless innings in the opener, Sophia scored four runs in the third inning and never trailed the rest of the way.
Doubles by Hailey Lemon and Emma Crawford plated one run each before a single from Kylee Jones sent two more home for the early advantage.
Craigsville pulled within one run after scoring four-run in the fifth, but Sophia regrouped and answered with six runs in the top of the sixth.
Three Craigsville errors, a triple from Jones and singles from Brenleigh Haga, Arri Hicks and Piper Parks led to the decisive outburst.
Game two was all about pitching and Haga stepped inside the circle and threw a gem. Over her six innings of work, Haga fanned 10 batters, while allowing one hit and only one unearned run.
Sledding was equally as difficult for Sophia who managed only one hit as well.
Trailing 1-0, Sophia, however, found a way to score two in the fourth inning for all of the runs Haga needed.
Walks to Jones and Jordyn Wood opened the decisive inning for Sophia.
Two passed balls later, Jones raced home to tie the game at 1-1 before Wood stole third to move 60 feet from the lead. When a two-out fly ball from Lemon could not be handled, Wood scored the eventual game winner.
Beckley, on the other hand, open the tournament with a thrilling 4-3 win over Summersville after falling behind 2-0 in the first inning.
Single runs in the second and third innings tied the game before Beckley took a 4-2 advantage by scoring once in the fifth and sixth inning.
Summersville made it interesting with a run in the bottom of the sixth, but a pair of strikeouts from Emma Spears sealed the win.
Raelyn Cline had two hits, including a double for Beckley, while Madison Yonts and Josie Farrish each had one RBI.
Unfortunately for Beckley, it could not find its bats in the nightcap against Jefferson, falling 12-0 in four innings via a one-hit shutout. Cline collected the lone Beckley hit in the contest.
Charleston Northeast will meet Beckley Monday night in an elimination game.
