SHORT GAP, W.Va. — Rylee Mangold recorded a hat trick, blasting three home runs and leading No. 1 Frankfort to a 13-0 five-inning victory over No. 3 Keyser on Friday.
“We came out strong, this is the first game where we’ve started scoring in the first inning,” Frankfort head coach Kim Root said. “That was a big improvement for us. Being able to score in each inning, that’s always a huge improvement.”
Mangold’s first homer came in the bottom of the first inning for the Falcons (5-0).
“They hit, and we didn’t,” Keyser head coach Cody Spotts said. “There’s not much to it. They hit the crap out of the ball, Avery (Noel) pitched good, we didn’t hit. You don’t win many games when you don’t hit.”
Aubrie Root hit a ground ball off the mound for a single, then Tayler Likens was intentionally walked.
On a 2-1 count, the Concord commit blasted a ball high and deep to left center for a three-run shot.
The following inning, Riley Lynch reached on a bunt single to third before Likens was once again intentionally walked.
Likens (Kent State) was walked three times with two intentional free passes.
“She’s one of the best hitters in the state,” Spotts said. “Everyone knows that, so we tried to limit her impact as much as we could. Unfortunately, Rylee made up for that.”
Mangold drilled a 2-0 pitch and hit a tree well past the left center fence for another three-run blast.
On the following pitch, Noel (Liberty) kept a fly ball inside the left foul pole for a solo shot.
Now leading 7-0 after two innings, Raley Nestor made it an eight-run game in the third inning after stealing home.
“We try to teach them to have good pitch selection,” coach Root said. “Every pitcher tries to throw a strike on the first pitch and we’d like to jump on that first pitch. But they also have a good approach coming to the ball and knowing what ball they want to hit.”
In the bottom of the fourth, Mangold completed the hat trick with a two-run shot to center field that just cleared the fence.
Mangold finished 3 for 3 with eight RBIs.
“She’s struggled up to this point,” Root said. “We looked and we re-watched a couple videos and talked at practice. I think she’s just been very anxious at the plate and she finally figured out she needs to stay within herself and stay compact and go straight to the ball.”
Chloe Westfall singled later in the inning for a run before Nestor sent a fly ball over the left field fence for a two-run homer.
A base-running mistake cost Nestor an RBI, but the lead was extended to 13.
Noel threw a five-inning no-hitter with one walk and 10 strikeouts.
Noel went 2 for 3 at the plate with a home run, an RBI and a stolen base.
Nestor was 2 for 2 with a long ball, two RBIs and a stolen base.
“We’ve been talking about it, everybody wants to seem to swing for the fences,” Root said of Frankfort’s five home runs. “I’ve asked them to shorten up their swing, put the bat on the ball and it’s gonna do what it’s gonna do.”
The Golden Tornado (1-3) only put three runners on base off two hit batters and a walk from Suzy Cosenza to lead off the fifth.
“The girls were anticipating this game,” Spotts said. “There’s no way around that. There’s also a lot of learning aspects from this. It was gonna be very emotional regardless coming into it. Personally, I’m glad it’s past us now. We can focus on our next game now.”
Frankfort hosts Hampshire (0-3) on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Keyser returns home to play Mountain Ridge on Thursday at 6 p.m.
“This is the first game we’ve come out early and we’ve scored,” Root said. “We need to do that, this is the potential that they have against everybody. They need to realize that this is a very deep lineup and they do have the potential of doing this every game we play.”