Coal Grove softball
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John Bruce

Coal Grove blanks Peebles, wins second consecutive district crown

The Hornets are headed to the Sweet 16.

John Bruce, Staff Writer

Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.

CHILLICOTHE — Thanks to a lights-out performance from senior Abbie Deeds and timely hitting from Brianna Malone, Coal Grove has captured its second consecutive district championship with a 2-0 victory over Peebles.

The Hornets entered Friday’s contest as the better-seeded team after Peebles upset Lynchburg-Clay on Wednesday. But things would not be easy as Peebles’ junior Kaelyn Musser had proven to be magnificent in two postseason wins for the Indians. 

Friday was no different as Deeds and Musser combined for a lone walk and 22 strikeouts in the circle. However, some clutch hitting was enough to bump the Hornets over the top and to the program’s second-ever district crown.

Coal Grove’s Izzy Kitts was 3-for-3 in Friday’s Division VI district championship game.
CREDIT: Raymond Gleadle/SOSA

“We had a number of starters back from last year,” Coal Grove coach Aaron Rice said. “You could go through our lineup and you can see that. They’ve been here, at this level. We’ve continually faced good pitching this year and they’ve been through this before. One mistake at this level can really kill you. Our girls, you just can’t say enough about them.”

With one out in the bottom of the second, Coal Grove’s Kendall Taylor reached on a catcher’s interference call. After a strikeout, Malone came up with her first big hit of the night when the junior tagged the first pitch she saw and stroked it down the left field line to bring a streaking Taylor across the plate for the go-ahead score. 

Now with the lead, Deeds began to work her magic, working around a Kiera Scott leadoff single to shut down the Indians in the third. In the bottom half of the inning, the Hornets nearly busted the game open, but Musser was able to get a strikeout to strand runners on second and third with two outs, following an Izzy Kitts double. 

“Abbie has, since she was a freshman, continued to work,” Rice said. “This year, right before the season, she was coming back from a couple of surgeries on each of her legs. So she kind of had to play herself into shape almost. She had to work to get to this level. But she’s always done that. Both pitchers today were excellent. That’s the way this game is supposed to be played.”


PHOTOS: Images from Coal Grove’s district championship win over Peebles


After a 1-2-3 inning, the Hornets stung again in the bottom of the fourth.

Taylor reached on a one-out single to right before stealing second and moving to third on a dropped third strike. Later, with two outs and a key insurance run on third, Malone had her second chance to come up clutch. 

She did just that.

Malone once again got the bat head out and pulled a hard hit ball into left field to score Taylor for a 2-0 lead.

“Brianna, today, out of the eight-hole … she just goes in there,” Rice said. “The thing we stress to our hitters is that we’ve got to relax. But we’ve got to look for good pitches. If we see one, we can’t let it go by. Brianna is really good about seeing something she likes and attacking it.”

The two-run lead was more than enough for Deeds as she began to dominate, striking out several hitters and forcing weak contact. The weak contact allowed Haili McKnight, Kitts and Taylor to all make plays behind Deeds as the Hornets held on to a two-run lead. 

No matter how well Coal Grove played defensively, the Hornets didn’t have the defensive play of the game. That went to Scott and the Indians, who made an outstanding sprawling catch in shallow center field to rob Malone of a third RBI in the bottom of the sixth. 

With two outs and two strikes on Peebles in the top of the seventh, disaster nearly struck for the Hornets as senior catcher Rylee Black took a foul tip off of her hand. Black would be checked on by the trainer, but she would stay in the game to help her team finish off the win.

With a runner on first and two outs, Deeds induced a ground ball that McKnight easily handled and tossed to Mia Haynes at first base to lock up another district crown for the Hornets. 

Deeds struck out 11 on the day while walking one and only allowing two hits — one to Scott and one to Kendall Myers. While Malone and Taylor each had two hits to play the offensive hero roles for the Hornets, Kitts also went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles.

Musser was outstanding once again for the Indians, striking out 11, walking none and allowing zero earned runs. She twirled 21 innings in the postseason for Peebles, allowing four earned runs and striking out 32. 

Coal Grove will next take on another Cinderella story in a Division VI regional semifinal at 5 p.m., Wednesday at Jackson High School.

The Hornets will meet with Portsmouth West, who beat Fairfield to advance, with a spot in the Elite 8 on the line.

“We’re fortunate enough to have Abbie throw well and, defensively, we were solid behind her,” Rice said. “At this level, against this type of pitching, we’re not going to get many opportunities to score. So it helps to have Abbie in the circle. We’ve got a lot of multi-sport athletes, too. They’re always playing in some form of competition. I think that makes a huge difference for us.” 

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