THOMASTON – Ashley Geel knew she might only get one decent pitch to hit.

The Georges Valley senior slugger stepped to the plate, waiting for the slim chance of getting a Candace Hall offering she could do something with.

“I knew she wasn’t going to throw it right down the middle more than once,” said Geel. “Coach kept telling me to look for the first pitch. She’s a good pitcher, and she’s going to be right around the plate.”

Geel jumped on the first pitch she saw in the fifth inning and delivered a hard single that drove in two runs to lift the defending Class C state champions to a 3-2 victory over Telstar.

It was a battle of unbeatens and a rematch of the Western C final in which the Bucs outslugged the Rebels last June.

“We controlled this game,” said Telstar coach Jim Lunney. “We had it in our hands. If we just didn’t throw her that pitch to hit and put her on first base, we’d have that one run lead going into the seventh inning.”

The Rebels (5-1) escaped a couple of threats by the Bucs (8-0) in previous innings and were one out away from ending the fifth with the 2-1 lead intact.

After a sacrifice bunt moved Erin Judkins to second, an error on a Desiree Smith grounder made it first and third. On a Brittany Worcester grounder to Whitney Mills at third, Mills came home to Sarah Field, who tagged Judkins for the second out of the inning. That left it up to Geel with runners at second and third. Her hard single to left was bobbled, allowing both runners to score and Geel to take third.

Lunney says his team doesn’t believe in intentional walks, but he didn’t want to give Geel anything worth hitting either.

“We should have gotten out of it,” said Lunney. “We had an error that prolonged the inning. We had first base open. It’s not a good gamble to throw to Ashley. She’s a strong hitter. I’m not that worried about home runs, I’m worried about her hitting the ball, and she roped the ball. There are boys that don’t hit it that hard.”

Georges Valley pitcher Danielle Frye didn’t allow for a Telstar rally. The sophomore, who has already pitched three no-hitters this year, didn’t allow a Rebel hit after the second inning. She finished with 10 strikeouts and three walks in the three-hitter.

“She has that extra gear, I call it” said Georges Valley coach Rusty Worcester. “That last inning she actually threw harder than she did in the first inning. That’s because she’s got that extra gear and is able to pump herself up.”

Telstar’s Candace Hall had a fine outing as well. She allowed just six hits, five of them coming in the fourth and fifth innings. She struck out six and walked just one.

The Rebels built an early 2-0 lead. After Josie Reiss walked in the first, she advanced on a wild pitch and stolen base. Mills singled her home. In the second, Hall singled and advanced on a stolen base and wild pitch. Kayla Merrill delivered the RBI single. The Rebels had just one baserunner after that.

“We’ve got to work on swinging the bat better,” said Lunney, whose team stranded two runners in scoring position in the first two innings. “We had too many called third strikes. We’ve got a lot of good baserunners, and if they put us on base, we can put the ball in play. We didn’t put it in play enough.”

Telstar escaped threat in the first when Smith singled and Geel walked. Hall got a strikeout and a ground out to end the inning. Geel, who hit a towering homer in the regional final last year, hit a first-pitch single in the fourth. She scored on a Jessica Keating single. Keating had a chance to score on a Bethany Snow single but a relay from Abby Hutchins in left to Mills and Field caught her on the way home.