AKRON – West Jefferson softball coach Jim Stevens and three of his players were understated throughout their postgame press conference June 3 at Firestone Stadium, but multiple yells of joy were audible outside the room as soon as their media obligation was done.
That was a continuation of the fireworks that went off early and often in a Division VI state semifinal against Van Wert Lincolnview, an 8-0 rout that brought the Roughriders to within a win of their first championship.
Junior Jenna Mannon set the tone with a three-run, first-inning home run that cleared the left-field fence in a hurry, and her 10-strikeout, two-hit performance in the circle fronted an error-free defensive effort as West Jefferson (25-5) advanced to play Danville or Dalton in the state final at 5:30 p.m. June 4.
“Any momentum we got from the beginning, whether it’s a good, solid hit or Jenna’s bomb, those moments we have as a team carry us,” senior first baseman Hailey McBrayer said. “Now we have to keep that momentum up throughout our next game.”
Leadoff hitter and senior shortstop Payton Kincade had two of West Jefferson’s six hits, including a single to start the game. Freshman shortstop Mia Burgett reached on an error to set the table for Mannon, a Missouri commit who blasted a 1-and-2 curveball for her 20th home run of the season.
That is second-most among all central Ohio players this season behind the 25 from Ohio single-season record-holder Abby Herren of Centerburg.
“[Lincolnview pitcher Ila Hughes] was working me inside, then I saw an outside pitch and went through it,” Mannon said. “I knew I was going to get one good pitch and I punished it.”
Junior third baseman Emma Trein’s RBI double later in the inning made it 4-0.
West Jefferson added three runs in the third, two of which came on senior outfielder Lacy Dunigan’s triple from the No. 9 spot in the lineup. Dunigan scored on a Burgett squeeze bunt.
McBrayer’s RBI double in the sixth accounted for the final score.
Mannon dominated Lincolnview (21-7) on 90 pitches, 57 of which were strikes.
“They couldn’t hit my changeup and I got a lot of swinging strikes on that,” she said.
Conversely, West Jefferson made Hughes, a sophomore, throw 132 pitches and drew nine walks. Six of the Roughriders’ eight runs were earned.
“We knew we would have to work the count and as we got through our first at-bats, we saw that the umpire really wasn’t calling anything other than right down the middle or outside or inside a little bit,” Kincade said. “We took that, we learned from it and we adjusted.”
Lincolnview, which started five freshmen and has eight on the roster to one senior, had more than one runner reach base just once, in the sixth.
Ansley Schwab drew a one-out walk and Lainey Spear singled with two outs, but Mannon struck out Bella Hire to end the inning.
“It is hard to come back from that [first inning] in an atmosphere like this,” Lincolnview coach Eric Schwab said. “Credit Mannon – she is good – but if we execute it could have been a different outcome.”
West Jefferson, which is at state for the first time since 2019 and second time ever, became the third central Ohio team to reach a state final, following Hilliard Bradley and Lancaster earlier in the day in Division I.
“There is no individuality in these girls; they play for each other and it shows,” Stevens said. “The school, the town, everybody gave us a huge send-off [June 2]. Our thought is they did that for us, let’s do this for them. I am extremely proud of these girls. I can’t say that enough.”
High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Jenna Mannon powers West Jefferson softball into OHSAA state final
Reporting by Dave Purpura, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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By Dave Purpura, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
