Fairmont Senior hits 3 home runs in win over East Fairmont

Later on, Jenkins’ teammates Shyanne Rowe and Abigail Shuck hit home runs of their own in the Polar Bears’ 14-4 run-rule victory over the Bees in five innings on Thursday at East Fairmont.

“I’ve been waiting for it all year,” Jenkins said. “I feel like I was a lot in my head before, so I just went for it today, and as soon as I hit it, I knew. It was a great feeling.”

The three home runs were part of the 11 hits that the Polar Bears got on Thursday.

“It’s the first time we’ve hit a home run all season, so yeah, it’s our first home run this year, so that was a nice surprise,” Fairmont Senior coach Anna Runyan said. “Like I said, these girls can swing hard. These girls have hit home runs before, we’ve just been struggling this year being patient, keeping our head down, and they did it tonight. I’m super proud of them for that and excited to hopefully see some more of that on Monday.”

That patience at the plate paid off for the Polar Bears in the top of the second inning. After Jenkins drew a walk, Sadie Rundle singled to left field, where it took several bounces before being gloved, and Ava Taylor drew a walk to load the bases.

“They definitely got much better at that,” Runyan said of the Polar Bears’ patience at the plate. “I know that’s something we focused on at the beginning of the season and tried to teach them to be patient, wait for your pitch, especially when the pitchers aren’t getting ahead often. If they’re throwing a first-pitch strike, we want to jump on that, but if they’re not, you have to make them work for it and make them pitch to you. If you do that, it’s easier to hit the ball rather than chasing.”

Camdyn Starron was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and following an RBI groundout from Grace Wells, Michaela Egidi hit a 1-0 pitch to deep center field, where it was dropped by the East Fairmont center fielder, allowing two runs to score: 4-0 Polar Bears.

“I think we ended up with six (errors),” East Fairmont coach Shay Swiger said. “It’s routine plays not being done. There were definitely some errors, and they were hitting home runs quickly, nothing we can do about those. But, the errors can definitely be fixed, and hopefully will be before Monday.”

An RBI single by Dodd and Jenkins’ three-run home run stretched the Fairmont Senior lead to 8-0.

In the top of the fifth, the Polar Bears scored all five of their runs — and hit two of their three home runs — with two outs. Rowe, the third batter of the inning, hit a 1-2 pitch to deep left center field for a solo homer.

After Wells and Egidi each singled, Dodd hit a 2-1 pitch to right field. A towering fly ball, it hung in the air for a while before falling in between the charging right fielder and second baseman for a two-run double.

Then came the big exclamation point. Shuck hit a 1-1 pitch to deep left field, where it struck a tree branch behind the fence for a two-run home run: 14-1 Polar Bears.

The Bees needed six runs in the bottom of the fifth to extend the game and avoid the run rule, and being able to do so looked promising initially.

Dakota Vincent was hit by a pitch, and two batters later, Izzy Vincent hit a grounder to third and beat the throw for an infield single. Lilly Boylen hit an 0-1 pitch to left field for a single, loading the bases.

That brought up Marissa Delbrook, who hit an 0-1 pitch to the fence in left center field, clearing the bases for a three-run double. But they couldn’t get any closer, as a pop up ended the game.

Egidi wasn’t only effective at the plate — she was in the circle as well. Egidi, the winning pitcher, tossed a complete game and allowed four runs on four hits with a walk and four strikeouts.