òòò½ÊÓƵ

Watts retired the side in order five times, walked none and allowed two hits -- a lead-off single by Emma Justice in the third inning and a two-out base hit to Jaden Jones in the sixth.

"I didn't throw that much movement, but my curve and my rise had their moments," Watts said of what was working for her. "They weren't my best, but they had their moments."

Watts outdueled Redskins sophomore Sophie Dunlap, who gave up one unearned run and six hits, fanned one and walked none.

"Sophie pitched excellent and the defense played excellent," Hurricane coach Meghan Stevens said. "There's not a negative thing I can say. Usually, each game you're going to have one or two errors. They took advantage of one."

That one error came in the second inning, when Maddie McCallister hit a hard shot off the glove of third baseman Josie Shamblin. The ball deflected to Jones at shortstop, but her throw to first wasn't in time. Two batters later, Karlee Salmons smashed a triple over the head of Justice in left field to score McCallister.

"It wasn't enough," Watts said of what she thought about the Knights' one run when McCallister scored. "It ended up being enough, but it's all right."

Cabell Midland coach Herman Beckett praised both pitchers.

"There's probably 10,000 pounds of sawdust out there where they sawed the bats off," Beckett said. "Both ways. They all pitched good ball games."

Watts was pleased with the MSAC title and avenging an earlier 4-1 loss at Hurricane, but had an eye toward the future.

"It means a lot," Watts said. "Not as much as the sectionals. It's still good. We had a good team win. Winning is always good."

Neither team threatened much. Hurricane put Justice at second after her single and Shamblin's sacrifice bunt in the third. No other Redskins reached scoring position. The Knights had two on and two out in the seventh.

Cabell Midland reached the final with a 2-1 victory over Spring Valley earlier Wednesday. Hurricane beat Riverside 8-3 in the other semifinal.

"It's pretty good when you can score three runs and win the whole thing," Beckett said.

The Knights are scheduled to play at Ironton at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. Hurricane takes to the field next in sectional play at 6 p.m. Wednesday against Huntington High.

CABELL MIDLAND 010 000 0 -- 0 6 0

HURRICANE 000 000 0 -- 0 2 1

Watts and Smith; Dunlap and Lawson.

Hitting: (CM) Smith 2-3, Salmons 3B.