Petersburg falls to St. Marys, 2-0, in winner-take-all Class A title game

May 24—SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Petersburg entered Thursday needing to win three games to win its first state championship, and the Vikings came up just short.

Right-hander Sam Colaw, Petersburg's lone senior, delivered an ironman performance to get the Vikings to the final game of the Class A tourney, throwing four complete games, 26 innings pitched and 382 pitches over two days.

The Shepherd commit's final outing of her career, a two-hitter in a 3-2 win over St. Marys Thursday, forced a winner-take-all bout with the Blue Devils.

Petersburg (28-10) fell 2-0 to finish as Class A runner-up, and St. Marys (31-4) claimed its first title.

"The girls were just phenomenal," Petersburg head coach Bubba Hedrick said. "The kids had to bounce back today. Had to get up early. It was a little tough mentally, but they just came out ready to play. I couldn't be happier."

It was Petersburg's third second-place finish (2019, '22), but it was the first time the Vikings have ever been a win away from the championship in West Virginia's double-elimination format.

Colaw wasn't eligible to pitch again in the nightcap by virtue of already throwing 14 innings earlier in the day.

The righty spun seven innings, allowing two runs, in a 7-3 win over Buffalo in the morning to stave off elimination before going the distance in the afternoon against St. Marys.

That meant Petersburg's No. 2 arm Olivia Kimble, a right-handed pitcher, made her tournament debut against the classification's top squad. Kimble did her job and then some in the rematch.

Kimble scattered 10 St. Marys hits to allow just two runs in seven innings of work, striking out six and walking two.

St. Marys left-handed pitcher Cali Masters was just too much for the Vikings, tossing seven innings of two-hit ball with nine strikeouts and two walks.

Both St. Marys runs scored on fluke plays.

The first in the third inning came home after Kimble got Masters to ground out to first to strand a runner at second base. After Petersburg left the field, the umpires convened and ruled the groundout hit off Masters' foot and was a foul ball.

Petersburg returned from its dugout and one pitch later, Masters lined a pitch into center field for an RBI single and a 1-0 lead.

Then in the seventh, St. Marys' Ella Bullman hit a bouncing ball down the third-base line, and the field umpire signaled foul. He was overruled by the home plate ump to award Bullman a triple, and Zoey Winland hit a sacrifice fly to give the Blue Devils an insurance run.

Kimble was under constant pressure after the third inning, but she stranded runners in scoring position in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to give her team a chance.

"She was spectacular," Hedrick said. "She hadn't pitched for a month. Sam was our No. 1 once we got in the playoffs. Only gave up the two runs. We feel like she really should've only given up one run. But we couldn't have asked anymore out of her."

Miley Tingler doubled and Shyane Tawney singled for the Vikings' lone base hits. Breanna Price and Winland doubled for St. Marys.

Petersburg had multiple standout defensive plays. Catcher Ella Chew caught a runner stealing in the third inning. Colaw, playing third, doubled off a runner at third base after catching a liner to limit the damage in the seventh.

Colaw, who pitched Petersburg to a second-place finish in '22 and third place in '23, left it all on the field in her final state tournament appearnce.

Over two days, Colaw had a 3-1 win-loss record, allowing 16 runs (10 earned) on 22 hits with 23 strikeouts and seven walks in 26 innings pitched. She pitched every inning of Petersburg's first four games.

"She was just absolutely awesome," Hedrick said. "I went to her and asked her after our first game today, 'How you feel about this next game,' and she wanted the ball. Our kids got behind her and just battled. It went right down to the last out. Her state championship game was that game.

"She's meant everything for us. This year, she's been the best thing for us as far as a mentor. We just got behind her. Hands down, the leader for us."

Petersburg forced a decisive Game 2 against St. Marys Thursday with a thrilling 3-2 win in a game that was tied entering the seventh inning.

Tingler led off the final frame with a double that got behind the center fielder, and Petersburg used small ball to get her home.

Gracie Carpenter laid down a bunt down the third-base line, and the St. Marys fielder's throw went up the first-base line to allow Tingler to score from second base.

Down to its final three outs, St. Marys put the tying run on base when Masters drew a four-pitch one-out walk, but Colaw stranded her with a groundout to shortstop and a strikeout on a nasty change-up.

Colaw went the distance, allowing two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks in seven frames. She was efficient, needing just 93 pitches.

Masters was dealt the loss after surrendering three runs (two earned) on five hits with seven Ks and two walks in seven innings. The Vikings made Masters work as she had to expend 133 pitches in defeat, but it didn't affect her in the second game.

Petersburg tied the score at 1 with an RBI single by Tingler in the fourth, and it took the lead in the fifth on a Tawney groundout.

Carpenter reached on a walk and Blair Loy singled to start the rally in the fifth, and they were bunted over by Kimble to set up Tawney's run-scoring ground ball.

St. Marys' Autumn Mosser leveled the tally at 2 with an RBI single in the sixth to set up Petersburg's final-frame heroics.

Thursday marked the third consecutive season the Vikings and Blue Devils met in the state tournament.

Petersburg finished third last year when it was eliminated by St. Marys, 6-0, in the semifinals. The Blue Devils went on to fall 3-1 in the Class A title game to Wahama, which won its third consecutive crown.

The prior year, Petersburg came back to beat St. Marys, 7-6 in eight innings, in the semifinals to advance to its second state championship in school history.

Petersburg fell to Wahama, 4-3, to finish as runner-up in 2022 — its other second-place finish came in 2019, a 5-1 loss to five-time state champion Herbert Hoover in the Class AA title game.

Area Player of the Year Carly Cooper, who has just finished her fourth year at George Mason with a 3.44 ERA in 381 innings at the Division 1 school, was unable to pitch Petersburg's 2019 championship game due to a blister she developed during the tournament.

Petersburg staved off elimination on Thursday morning by winning a rematch with Buffalo, 7-3, to advance to the state championship game.

Colaw earned the win in the circle, allowing three runs (two earned) on just two hits with six strikeouts and two walks in seven innings of work.

Addison Kitzmiller tripled and doubled and drove in three runs to pace the Vikings' offense. Tingler also tripled, and Tawney added a double.

Kimberly Dillman took the loss for Buffalo, allowing seven runs (six earned) on 10 hits with a strikeout and three walks in six innings.

Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.