GREENSBORO — Jordan Hatch hurled a complete game shutout and Shelby Barbee mashed a two-run homer to send West Stanly to a 3-0 win in the third and decisive game of the NCHSAA 3A Softball State Championship Series over Eastern Randolph at the UNC-Greensboro Softball Complex on Sunday afternoon.
A storybook ending escaped the Lady Wildcats, who closed the season at 25-7 overall.
West Stanly, meanwhile, closed the season at 28-2 overall as the win secured the Colts’ third Softball State Championship.
Barbee was named the Most Valuable Player for the series thanks to a 4-for-10 performance at the plate with three RBI’s. Barbee went 2-for-3 in the series finale, including a pair of RBIs to cement the victory.
West Stanly picked up a run in the home half of the first thanks to a leadoff double by Morgan Edwards who later came around to pick up the game’s first run on a two-out infield single by Rosalyn McRae. The early run forced Eastern Randolph to play catch up the entire way and much like the series opener, the locals never could get the clutch hit to even the game up, stranding four batters entering the bottom of the fifth.
In the bottom of the fifth, Barbee crushed a high fastball offering from Eastern Randolph ace Savannah Beaver over the fence in left. The towering shot pushed the Colts’ lead to 3-0 and all but secured the state championship.
Hatch, a Duke University softball commit who just received a North Carolina High School Gatorade Player of the Year honor a week earlier, put the finishing touches on the title by firing seven shutout innings in 116 pitches. She scattered six hits and a walk while striking out six Wildcats.
No Wildcat tallied multiple hits in the contest with Eastern Randolph getting a double from Kesley Craven and single from Courtnee Carter, Aniyah King, Brooklyn Rush, Olivia Hall, and Leighanna Ward. ER agonizingly stranded eight base runners in the loss.
Morgan Edwards added a 2-for-3 effort at the plate for the Colts and scored a run and doubled while Roslyn McRae chipped in a 2-for-3 day with an RBI.
Beaver took the loss on the mound for the Wildcats as the sophomore southpaw standout worked six innings and allowed nine hits, no walks, three runs and struck out a pair.
The Wildcats appeared in the State Tournament Finals for the third time in school history and the first time in the Best-of-Three Series era. The last trip to the State Finals for the Wildcats came in 2011.
The Colts won the program’s third Softball State Championship and first since 2013 when they knocked off South Granville in two games. The Colts appeared in the State Tournament Series for the fifth time in the program’s history and second time in the Best-of-Three Series era.