BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

Patrick Henry junior Kelsey Weddle hit and pitched her team into the regional semifinals.

Weddle pitched a one-hit shutout and also delivered the decisive hit as PH posted a 2-0 road win over Floyd County in the opening round of the Region C softball tournament.

Patrick Henry will play Bath County on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Damascus in the regional semifinals.

Weddle struck out 10 in shutting down Floyd’s potent offense. Meanwhile, she blasted a two-run homer to dead center in the top of the sixth inning to put the
Rebels on the board.

Amanda Black added a 2-for-3 effort for the Rebels.

ROANOKE TIMES - CHUCK ALTIZER

FLOYD -- Kelsey Weddle had never hit a home run in her life. Her Patrick Henry-Glade Spring teammates had not hit one all season.

All of that changed in the sixth inning of the Region C quarterfinal matchup with Three Rivers District champion Floyd County. Weddle lined a 1-0 pitch with a runner on into the bank behind the left-center field fence at Floyd County High School, giving the Rebels a 2-0 victory.

"She kept hitting the outside corner and I knew she was going to come out there again," Weddle, a junior, said. "I just put a good swing on it and it went out."

As impressive as it was, the hit took a backseat to her exploits in the circle.

Kelsey Weddle pitches for PH.
Photo by Justin Cook - Roanoke Times

Weddle allowed just one hit and two base runners before sitting down the final 18 Floyd hitters in succession, striking out 10 in her complete-game victory.

"I just threw what the coaches told me to throw," she said. "We were just mixing up pitches the whole time."

Floyd's lone base hit came from Kat Mills, who singled up the middle after Alexis Roop drew a walk to start the second inning. After that uprising, the Floyd hitters didn't reach base again as Weddle kept them off balanced and frustrated.

"She stayed on the outside corner all night long," Floyd coach Wes Starkey said of Weddle. "We didn't adjust to it and then she came up with the big hit."

PH-Glade Spring (13-10) threatened to make a move in the second inning, putting runners on second and third with nobody out as Amanda Black laced a double to the gap in right center, advancing Katie Haynes, who led the inning off with a walk, to third.

Black was the only Rebel with two hits, adding a single in her third at-bat but was stranded in the second when Floyd County's Amber Ingram struck out the next three hitters to end the threat.

Ingram went the distance for the Buffaloes (15-6), striking out seven batters while allowing just five hits but admitted she made a mistake on the home run.

"I was trying to throw a drop ball and I didn't get on top of it," she said. "It floated and you saw what happened after that."

In the decisive sixth, PH got a lead-off double from Frankie Coleman before Weddle launched the home run.

"It was kind of interesting because Frankie led off the inning with a double and she is usually a slap hitter," Rebels coach Beth Austin said. "Then, Kelsey [Weddle] followed with her shot. I guess Kelsey was feeling it today and didn't want to go home."

The Rebels will play Bath County in the semifinals at Damascus on Thursday. The loss ends Floyd County's season for the third straight year in the region quarterfinals.

"I guess we are kind of cursed or it seems like it," Ingram said, "but the seniors next year, like I will be, have got to come back next season, work hard and see what we can do."

PH-Glade Spring 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 --2 5 0

Floyd County 0 0 0 0 0 0 0--0 1 0

Weddle and Haynes; Ingram and Roop. W--Weddle. L--Ingram. HR--Weddle (PH), 6th, one on.