ST. JOE – If you are Buck Davidson, it doesn’t get much better than Wednesday afternoon.

The Wheeling Central softball coach saw his Maroon Knights impress in all phases en route to a five-inning 14-1 blasting of homestanding Bellaire. The Maroon’s mercy-rule triumph was fueled by a nine-run first inning.

Josie Frizzell flashed her all-state pitching credentials by yielding just one hit, that coming with two outs in the final frame. The sophomore dandy fanned 10 and issued five walks.

Meanwhile, centerfielder Brook Edge supplied the big bat for Central The junior ace drove in six runs, courtesy of a home run and double. She reached base all four plate appearances.

“It’s always nice to have a big first inning. It is always much better to play from the front,” Davidson said. “It was a great start to the game. Josie settled in after a couple of batters and pitched very well.

“Brook really came up big at the plate. Six RBI is a nice night’s work,” he added. “We also had a couple of other girls who swung the bat well. We also played solid in the field.”

The winners did not commit an error.

The impressive win was Central’s eighth in 10 starts. The Maroon Knights are now on spring break until Tuesday when they visit Toronto.

The loss dropped Bellaire to 1-3 on the campaign. The Big Reds are scheduled to visit Cambridge this afternoon.

“That was a rough first inning. It is tough to come back from that kind of start,” Bellaire coach Dave Menendez said. “Central hit the ball well in that inning. They were legitimate runs.

“After the first inning we settled down and did some good things,” he added. “But Frizzell pitched very well. Give Central credit, they played a super game.”

Sophomore Jensen Rine had a big first inning for the winners, blasting a pair of doubles while plating two teammates. Edge delivered a three-run double in the same frame while senior Aspyn Bowman recorded an RBI by drawing bases-loaded walk.

Frizzell subsequently took a nine-run lead to the circle and was on immediate cruise control. She fanned two Big Reds in the first, three more in the second and third innings, respectively.

Central made it 12-0 in the third when Edge crushed a three-run homer over the left-centerfield fence.

Bellaire garnered its lone run in the fourth. With two outs, Sophia Porter doubled in junior ace Allie Ault who reached on a base-on-balls.

Central tacked on two more tallies in the fifth. Edge walked and scored on Jocelyn Shaw’s triple to right field. Frizzell helped her own cause with a single to plate Shaw.

“It was nice to see how we hit. It is really the first time we busted out the bats like this,” Davidson said. “Hopefully, it will be a trend that continues.”

Ava Hanson and Ashley Baker slammed doubles for the Maroon Knights

Majestique Jackson started in the circle for Bellaire. She gave way to Rylie Porter in the first inning. Jackson struck out one and walked three. Porter, meanwhile, fanned four and passed three.