Members of the Oak Glen Class AA, Region 1 championship softball team are (front, from left) Nevaeh Heath, Marleah Lough, Mikalyn Balch, Lexi Vincent, Bella Hoder; (back, from left) Kynslee Landess, Kylie Robinson, Audrina May, Camryn Richards, Macy Hartung, Danica Holden, Brayley Lash, Mattie Carney and Brystol Holden. The Bears will face Weir High on Wednesday in the opening round of the state softball tournament in South Charleston. (Oak Glen Softball)

NEW MANCHESTER, W.Va. — Oak Glen’s softball team will see a familiar foe first as it defends its 2025 state Class AA championship.

The Golden Bears were slotted as the fifth seed in the 2026 state tournament and will face fourth-seeded Weir on Wednesday in the double-elimination event at Little Creek Park in South Charleston.

Weir and Oak Glen will play on Rock Field A after No. 1 Logan Field and No. 8 Midland Trail who are scheduled to start at 9 a.m. The match-ups that will follow include No. 3 Sissonville and No. 6 Independence as well as No. 2 Petersburg and No. 7 Lincoln.

The winner of the Weir-Oak Glen game will get the winner of Logan-Midland Trail at 9 a.m. on Thursday, while the loser of the Red Riders and Golden Bears will play the loser of Logan and Midland Trail at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday in an elimination game.

Oak Glen enters the tournament at 18-11, having lost to Weir 2-1 on March 27 and 11-4 on April 18. The only other team the Golden Bears have faced in the tournament is Lincoln who the Golden Bears beat 5-0 on April 10.

Oak Glen is ranked second in West Virginia Class AA behind Logan according to MaxPreps’ rankings. Logan and Oak Glen enter the tournament tied with the strongest strength of schedule ranking by MaxPreps (8.9). Weir (21-7) has a 3.0 strength of schedule ranking.

The Golden Bears have a team batting average of .335 including 258 hits, 143 RBIs, 61 doubles, 15 triples and 16 home runs.

Junior Mattie Carney leads the team at the plate with a .482 average with a team-high 41 hits, 26 RBIs, 11 doubles and six triples. Senior Brayley Lash is batting .365 with 35 hits, 15 RBIs, seven doubles, three triples and four home runs. Junior Mikalyn Balch also has a .365 average with 35 hits, 15 RBIs, four doubles, two triples and two home runs. Seniors Danica Holden (.329, 22 RBIs, six doubles) and Macy Hartung (.312, 15 RBIs, eight doubles) also give the Golden Bears offensive threats.

Carney is the Bears’ primary starting pitcher as she has a 2.64 ERA with 181 strikeouts, 23 walks and 47 total earned runs in 124 2/3 innings. Holden is the second option as she has a 3.73 ERA with 52 strikeouts and six walks in 41 1/3 innings.

Weir is led by Eliza Utt who is sixth in Class AA in batting average (.541) and fourth in ERA (1.52).