Mustangs outlast Thunderbolts, advance to state quarterfinals
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MIDDLEBURG -- Mustang Miley Beachel reached her 300th career strikeout and helped first-time District 4 Championship winner Midd-West softball advance to the state quarterfinals after defeating Littlestown, 6-2, on Monday afternoon.
"I was really happy with our team defense today. We’re making all the routine plays and then we’re making some exceptional plays," Mustangs head coach Pete Voss said. "We’re getting strong pitching. If you can have strong pitching day in, day out, that’s going to make you successful."
Beachel tossed nine strikeouts from the circle. At the plate, she had two hits and scored a run. Cali Sauer and Briahna Keister each scored two runs for the Mustangs (16-6).
"I’m really happy with how it turned out because I feel really confident with myself," Keister said. "If we can keep our morale up, we’ll do great and make it far."
Keister got an RBI single in the second inning, scoring Sauer.
Sauer and Keister each scored a run on Lady Bolts' errors in the fourth, extending the Mustangs’ lead to 3-0.
Littlestown's Hannah Barthel doubled in the sixth, then scored a run on Libby Brown's RBI single. With two outs and two on, Brown moved to second after Adyson Popoff was hit by a pitch, but Beachel got a strikeout on a full count to end the scoring threat. Midd-West clung to a 4-1 lead at that point.
"It was really stressful," Beachel said. "It was a full count and there were two runners on base. I took some extra deep breaths and tried to calm myself down."
"She knows what she means to us, how well she’s doing this year and how quickly she went from 200 to 300 strikeouts," Voss said. "She’s doing awesome for us. She always gives us a chance to win when she’s in the circle, and that makes us real tough."
The Mustangs added two runs in the sixth inning. Keister's bunt single kicked things off, then she moved to second on Beachel's single. Another bunt allowed Keister to reach third. Storm Wilt's sacrifice fly allowed Keister to score.
"We got people on; we played a little small ball and we got runners in scoring position and had some key hits. We were aggressive on the base pads, which made us successful as well," Voss said.
The Lady Bolts (15-9) answered with a run in the seventh frame.
With this being Midd-West's first state playoff appearance, the Mustangs will try to keep the momentum alive when they face Conwell-Egan Catholic on Thursday in the state quarterfinals.
"As long as we go in, being ourselves, there’s a chance that we can come out on top," Beachel stated.
The Mustangs are playing with plenty of confidence and continue to show why they're a force in the postseason.
"We’re going to make districts and we’re going to make noise in districts. This collective group of 15 players is setting the legacy for Midd-West softball," Voss said. "We’re playing with good confidence. They have all that confidence and energy and they keep doing what we’re doing with one game at a time. Now we got the state playoffs and let’s just see what happens here. I’m excited to see what they can do. I’d love to watch them play week in, week out, day in, day out. They’re doing awesome.
"We’re going to go out there and win; play tough and have fun. Hopefully, they’re making lasting memories that when they’re old, they can tell their kids and grandkids that, 'Hey, we played in the state playoffs.' That is what I’m hoping for."
Midd-West 6, Littlestown 2
LT 0-0-0-0-0-1-1--2-5-4
MW 0-1-0-2-1-2-X--6-10-0
WP-Miley Beachel 7IP, 5H, 2R, 0BB, 9K. LP-Alexis Stonesifer 6IP, 10H, 6R, 4ER, 3BB, 4K.
Littlestown (2): Keira Miller 1-3 RBI; Hannah Barthel 1-3 2B, R; Emilie Hawver 1-1; Emily Long 0-2; Reese Rucker 1-2 R; Sarah Loveless 0-3; Isabella Olvera 0-2; Adyson Popoff 0-2; Alexis Stonesifer 0-3; Libby Brown 1-4 RBI.
Midd-West (6): Miley Beachel 2-4 R; Rachel Keister 1-4; Storm Wilt 0-2 RBI; Jayda Dunn 1-4 RBI, SB; Teagan Schreffler 1-3, SB; Cali Sauer 2-3 2R; Mckennin Voss 0-2; Madison Swineford 0-3; Briahna Keister 3-3 2R, 2RBI.