CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The top seed in Class A with 26 wins over 30 games ahead of state tournament play, No. 1 Madonna entered Thursday’s semifinal against Webster County looking to impose its will on a Highlander program making its first appearance at this stage.

Blue Dons’ starting pitcher Jacob Lazear did precisely that over a strong outing that spanned 5 2/3 innings and featured all but two of his outs recorded by strikeout. When the Madonna bats caught up and broke a scoreless tie with five runs in the fourth inning, the Blue Dons were well on their way to securing a spot in Saturday’s state title game with a 13-3 six-inning win at GoMart Ballpark.

“Jacob did a great job. He had 15 Ks and limited the freebies. Our approaches at the plate were a little bit slow to start, but once we di

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