VIENNA, W.Va. — Two down, one to go.

After years of being among the best, Point Pleasant will have an opportunity to actually be the best on Thursday when the Lady Knights battle either Scott or Shady Spring for the Class AA state championship after soundly defeating both teams during first round action on Wednesday.

Point Pleasant (30-7) opened play to the West Virginia State Softball Tournament with a 6-1 victory over Shady Spring (16-17) and followed that up with an impressive 8-2 victory over Scott (28-6) later in the evening to set up a rematch against one of the two teams on Thursday with the state championship on the line.

“I told the girls to enjoy tonight, we have one more game left,” said PPHS head coach B.J. Grady. “We have put together four really good games and I look forward to competing for a title tomorrow.”

The losers bracket finale between Shady Spring and Scott will take place prior to the championship game on Thursday.

After losing in the first round, Shady Spring and Lincoln, who fell to Scott 13-3, met up in the first elimination game of the afternoon with Shady Spring pulling out a 6-4 upset to stay alive in the title hunt.

Scott, who then lost to Point Pleasant, will now battle Shady Spring Thursday morning with a rematch against undefeated Point Pleasant on the line.

In the meantime, Point Pleasant will get to sit back and relax.

The Lady Knights earned the opportunity to sit out of Thursday’s early round games with their pair of wins on Wednesday and now must wait for an opponent for the state title game which begins at 2:30 p.m. on Field 2 at Jackson Park in Vienna.

Point Pleasant will be going for its second ever state title when the game gets underway Thursday with its last title coming exactly a decade ago when the Lady Knights claimed the Class AAA championship.

Now, exactly 10 years later, Point Pleasant will try to add a second title to its illustrious trophy collection.

“We have a great tradition at Point Pleasant and I think they are more excited to try and add another chapter to that history,” Grady said.

And the Lady Knights will have that opportunity thanks to two convincing victories on Wednesday, extending the PPHS win streak to 13 straight.

PPHS beat Shady Spring 6-1 in the early game yesterday using a four-run sixth inning to pull away for the win.

In that game juniors Anna Sommer and Devin Cottrill both smashed solo home runs while Miranda Thompson and Jennifer Wickline added extra base knocks to pace the Point Pleasant offense. Tessa Wyant took care of the rest, striking out 10 and holding the Lady Tigers to just one safety.

And it didn’t take long for the Lady Knight offense to get rolling.

Sommer gave her team a 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the first inning and Cottrill followed suit two innings later with her own solo shot for a 2-0 PPHS lead.

After struggling to get its offense going, Shady Spring finally got on the board in the sixth when Lindsey Stalnaker reached base via a fielders choice and was later driven in on an RBI single from Brittany Phillips to cut the lead to 2-1.

But that score was quickly trumped in the home half of the inning with four runs from the Lady Knights.

PPHS put together a solid sixth inning with Sommer and Wyant reaching on back-to-back singles with one out and both were moved around the bases on a fielders choice. Emily Jones then got on base with an error and Thompson came through with a huge three-run triple to clear the bases and open up a 6-1 lead.

Wyant and the defense then took care of the rest, retiring the Lady Tigers in order to hold on for the 6-1 victory.

Sommer was the only player in game one with multiple knocks, going 2-for-3 with a home run and an RBI. Thompson added a triple with three runs batted in and Cottrill drove in herself on a solo shot. Alissa Darst, Wickline, Jones and Wyant rounded out the eight hit afternoon with a hit each.

Shady Spring managed just one hit in the setback with Phillips going 1-for-3 with an RBI. Freshman Amber Woody picked up the pitching loss.

In game two, the urgency picked up with the two best teams in the tournament squaring off.

And the two teams played like they were the best with a very even matchup through the first five innings.

But when Point Pleasant began wearing down Skyhawk pitcher Holly Turley in the sixth, the Lady Knights burst the game wide open.

Holding a 3-1 lead, PPHS scored five runs in the sixth with three hits and a trio of walks making it like shooting fish in a barrel for the Lady Knight offense.

With the bases loaded after walks by Morghan Mullins and Emily Sommer and a fielders choice from Darst, Turley walked in a run and Wyant brought home another score off of a sacrifice fly for a 5-1 PPHS lead. Wickline then smashed a two-run single and Jones followed suite with an RBI single to turn the two-run game into an 8-1 Lady Knight lead.

Scott tried to rally in the seventh, loading the bases with only one out, but the PPHS defense contained the damage with a few nice defensive stops to halt the rally at 8-2 and earn a spot in the Class AA title game.

Jones led the Point Pleasant attack in game two going 3-for-4 with two runs batted in while Smith added a pair of knocks and Wickline drove in two with a single. Emily Sommer and Darst rounded out the offensive numbers with a hit apiece while Anna Sommer drove in a run and scored twice.

Wyant again picked up the victory in the circle, fanning seven in seven innings of work.

Scott fared a little better than Point Pleasant’s first opponent, tallying five hits led by Kaitlyn Tadlock who was 2-for-3. Krissey Smith, Candice Maynard and Ciera Bias rounded out the offense with a hit apiece. Turley was tagged with the pitching loss.

The Lady Hawks actually took the early edge in Wednesday’s contest, giving PPHS its first deficit of the entire tournament.

But it didn’t last long.

Scott took a 1-0 lead when Bias led off the first with a single, later being driven in on an RBI from Rachel Holstein.

Point Pleasant then knotted the score in the second when Jones reached on a single and scored on an error and took the lead in the fourth inning. With two outs, Emily Sommer smashed a triple and scored on the second Scott error of the game for Point Pleasant’s first lead of the night.

The Lady Knights tacked on another run in the fifth when Anna Sommer reached on a walk, rounding the diamond on an RBI single from Jones before PPHS put the game out of reach in the sixth.

With Lincoln already out of the tournament, the Lady Knights are guaranteed a rematch with either Shady Spring or Scott. Along with the two wins on Wednesday, Point Pleasant also has a pair of regular season victories over the two schools collected during the Best of the Best Tournament held earlier this season in Buffalo.

The losers bracket final will take place at 10 a.m. with the Class AA championship game scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. With a win, PPHS would claim the title.

However with a loss, a second game would be needed due to the double-elimination rules. If needed, game two of the Class AA championship would take place 30 minutes following game one.

Game 1

Point Pleasant 6, Shady Spring 1

SS 000 001 0 — 1 1 1

PP 101 004 X — 6 8 1

SSHS (16-17): Amber Woody and Brandi Phillips.

PPHS (29-7): Tessa Wyant and Alissa Darst.

WP — Wyant. LP — Woody.

HR — PP: Anna Sommer, first inning, none on; Devin Cottrill, third inning, none on.

Game 2

Point Pleasant 8, Scott 2

S 100 000 1 — 2 5 3

PP 010 115 X — 8 8 1

SHS (28-6): Holley Turley and Kohle Maynard.

PPHS (30-7): Tessa Wyant and Alissa Darst.

WP — Wyant. LP — Turley.