WHEELING - During the first inning of Wednesday's Ohio Valley Athletic Conference All-Star Softball Game, Magnolia's Marissa Bosley hit the second pitch she saw from St. John's Gina Beekman to straightaway center for a home run and the West Virginia squad was off and running with a 1-0 lead.
That didn't last long.
Ohio jumped in front 2-1 in the bottom of the inning and the Buckeyes pitchers limited West Virginia to one hit the rest of the way en route to 10-1 victory at Lisa's Field.
Article Photos
OVAC SOFTBALL — Weirton Madonna’s Sara Lyons prepares for a throw to first base while St. Clairsville’s Jessie Machovina runs and Brooke’s Shannon Reardon backs up the play.
-- Josh Strope
West Virginia had four hits, with three coming in the first. Parkersburg South's Genna Trippett doubled off the wall and Brooke's Shannon Reardon singled but were stranded.
University's Monique Rowe had the only other hit, a single in the fourth.
Beekman got out of the trouble and struck out three in the second inning. Steubenville Catholic's Paige Creamer, Indian Creek's Ashley Starr and Meadowbrook's Erin Endly did the rest. The Buckeyes combined for 14 strikeouts.
Starr had three of those strikeouts, pitching the fifth and sixth innings to end up as the winning pitcher. At the plate, she went 3-for-3, including an RBI double in the eighth inning.
''I think I played well and I really wasn't expecting to go 3-for-3,'' said Starr, who will continue her softball career at Walsh.
''I am really honored to be in this game. Ever since my freshman year I have wanted to play in this game, so I am really honored they chose me.
''I know most of these guys from playing each other and now we get to play together for a cause: beat West Virginia.''
As good as the Ohio pitchers were, the one blemish was the Bosley home run. The second team all-stater admitted she was very familiar with Beekman and knew just what to look for.
''I have faced Gina a lot of times and I knew how to time her up,'' Bosley said. ''I knew she was going to throw me inside so I lowered my hands and hit it. I was hoping it would lead to bigger things but we kinda got down but we still played well.
''Still, I loved playing in every minute of this game and it was a lot of fun. I am glad I got to represent Magnolia.''
Ohio started the first inning with a little small ball as Edison's Kristin Prokopakis and Steubenville Catholic's Allee Vandeborne each reached on infield singles. The two stole third and second, respectively, and St. Clairsville's Jesse Machovina tied the score with a sacrifice fly.
A throwing error at third allowed Vandeborne to trot home and the Buckeyes were in front, 2-1.
A sacrifice fly by Meadowbrook's Abby Dudley and another throwing error put Ohio up 4-1 in the fourth. The Buckeyes tacked on three in the fifth inning, two scoring on an error and another on a double to the wall by Beaver Local's Kim Rotellini.
Starr and Taylor Clark had RBI hits, while Buckeye Local's Dana Bettineschi also was credited with an RBI in the eighth.
Prokopakis went 3-for-3 with a triple.
''This is just a lot of fun because you get to meet a lot of different girls from different teams and different coaches,'' St. John Central and Ohio coach Jerry Magistro said. ''I knew we had some pretty good ball players.
"They showed it. I was real impressed with the speed and the hitting. Not to mention how good our pitching was.''
Ohio 10, West Virginia 1
West Virginia 100 000 000 - 1 4 5
Ohio 200 230 03x - 10 14 0
WEST VIRGINIA: Tharp (LP, 2K, 0BB), Paczewski (3, 2K, 1BB), Bailey (5, 0K, 1BB), Garcia (8, 1K, 0BB) and Bosley, Reardon (3), Trippett (5); Bosley HR, rbi; Trippett D; Reardon S; Rowe, S.
OHIO: Beekman (3K, 1BB), Creamer (3, 2K, 0BB), Starr (WP, 5, 3K, 0BB), Endly (7, 6K, 1BB) and Young, Nest (3), Miller (5), Dudley (7); Kr.Prokopakis 2S, T; Bettineschi rbi; Machovina S, rbi; Starr 2S, D, rbi; Clark 2S, rbi; Rotellini D, rbi; Young D; Dudley rbi.
