SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Down to its final three outs, Frankfort lived to play another day.
Tayler Likens tied the game with a single, and Avery Noel ended it two batters later with one of her own, lifting Frankfort to a 3-2 comeback victory over Herbert Hoover in a Class AAA state tournament elimination game Friday at Little Creek Park.
Frankfort (28-1) will play another elimination game against Weir (28-8) on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
The winner will then have to defeat Winfield twice for the state championship beginning at 2:30 p.m.
The state tournament victory was the Falcons’ first since 2006 when they finished as Class AA runner-up.
Frankfort found itself trailing 2-1 entering the final half-inning after an error in the sixth on a Jayley Carper two-out grounder to third base kicked off the fielder’s glove to score the go-ahead run.
But the Falcons roared back in the seventh, and it started with the bottom of their lineup.
Claire Westfall drew a lead-off walk, and pinch hitter Jordan-Marie Owens and Riley Lynch followed with back-to-back singles, setting the stage for Likens’ and Noel’s heroics.
Rylee Mangold (Concord signee) didn’t have her best stuff but battled through seven innings to earn the win in the circle, expending 127 pitches to get over the finish line.
The right-hander allowed two unearned runs on six hits with 10 strikeouts to two walks.
Mangold also doubled at the plate, and Noel (Liberty signee) and Likens (Kent State signee) had two hits each.
Noel belted a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning that tied the score at 1.
Herbert Hoover scored first in the top of the third when Bella Haas lined a single to the right side. The hit got behind the Frankfort right fielder for a Little League home run.
Hoover (23-9) was led at the plate by Elizabeth Turner, who singled twice. Hannah Shamblin took the loss in the circle in relief.
Weir 3, Frankfort 1
Frankfort dropped a heartbreaker in Game 1 of the state tournament Friday, as Weir plated two runs in the eighth to down the Falcons in an eight-inning thriller and hand them their first loss.
Frankfort, which won 27 games in a row entering the state tournament, was the better team for much of the game but left 14 runners on base.
The Falcons nearly recorded the walk-off victory in the seventh when Westfall shot a line drive into the right-center gap, but Brynn Artman made a running grab to leave the bases loaded and force extras.
A half-inning later, a leadoff error on a grounder to third base kick-started a Weir rally. Kylie Dean gave Weir its first lead with an RBI single, and Isabella Weber made it 3-1 Red Raiders with an infield single to the left side.
Frankfort loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, but a come-backer to the pitcher led to a force out at home, and a pop-out handed the Falcons their first loss.
Left-hander Eliza Utt pitched all eight innings for Weir to earn the win, allowing a run on nine hits with three strikeouts and four walks.
Mangold took the loss in relief, allowing two runs in two innings.
Noel pitched six frames in a no decision, holding Weir to one run on five hits with 12 strikeouts to two walks.
Likens singled three times, including an RBI base hit in the second inning. Adison Pritts (WVU Potomac State) tripled.
Weir’s Rayna Hoover gave Weir its first run, tying the score at 1-1 with an RBI groundout in the third. The ground ball plated Utt, who reached on a double.
Utt and Dean had two hits apiece.
Frankfort left the bases loaded in the first inning and left two more on in the second.
Through three innings, the Falcons left four runners in scoring position with less than two outs on base.