The Warriors wrapped up their regular season on Monday with a decisive 6-0 victory over the Lady Tide from Curwensville. Over seven innings, the Warriors scored two runs in the second inning and four in the sixth, while keeping the Lady Tide scoreless. Junior Makenna Moore delivered an exceptional performance, nearly pitching a perfect game with 16 strikeouts, allowing only two walks and one infield single. This win secured the top seed for the Lady Warriors as they head into districts.
The following day, the Warriors, crowned ICC North champions, traveled to the ICC (Inter-County Conference) championship games to compete against the ICC South champions, the Everett Lady Warriors. The winner of this matchup would advance to face the Claysburg Kimmel Bulldogs, who had won the east and west game earlier that day. The Warriors versus Warriors game was a close, competitive one, and the Everett Lady Warriors ended up on top with the final score of 7-6.
Senior Mallory Graham started things for the West Branch Warriors in the bottom of the second inning by reaching second on a single. Senior Madison Butler drove her in with a double. After that, Senior Carsyn Wesesky drove in Madison with a single to right field. The Everett Warriors scored their first run during the top of the third from a wild pitch. No one scored again until the bottom of the 5th when Junior Makenna Moore hit a single to score Senior Brooke Bainey. In the top of the 6th, the Everett Warriors loaded the bases and then hit a grand slam, putting the score at 5-3. Then, during the bottom of the 6th, Madison Butler and Mackenzie McTavish each hit a single, and then Brooke hit a home run, putting the score at 6-5.
At the top of the 7th, the Everett Warriors scored two more runs, making the score 7-6. Unfortunately, the West Branch Lady Warriors couldn’t get anything going and fell to Everett 7-6. Senior Mallory Graham stated, “Although we took a hard loss, there was nothing to be ashamed of. We had just competed against the returning state champs and only came up short by one run. Our team played great; the other team just outplayed us. I think we needed the loss though because it brought us back to reality after being on an 18-game winning streak. The loss couldn’t have occurred at a better time because ICCs meant nothing to us, and now we’re prepared for what truly matters.” This loss didn’t affect the West Branch Lady Warriors’ place in the district as they are still in first seed.
The Lady Warriors are back in action for the second round of districts against Bishop McCort at home on Monday at 4:00 PM.
