MAN - It will most likely come down to Man and Wheeling Central.

It could be the Lady Billies and the Maroon Knights for the state championship this week.

The No. 2-ranked Man High School girls' softball team is scheduled to open the Class A state tournament on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. against South Harrison at Vienna's Darrell Dotson Softball Complex.

The Lady Billies, after winning last Friday's regional championship, 5-1 over Buffalo, and securing the school's first state tourney berth since 2000, come into the game with a 21-3 mark. The underdog South Harrison team is just 11-9.

The other Class A bracket pits state powerhouse Wheeling Central (25-2) against Charleston Catholic (20-15) at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

The double-elimination state tourney title game is set for Thursday at 2 p.m.

Wheeling Central enters the state softball tournament as the two-time defending champs. The Maroon Knights beat Harts 1-0 in the 2006 state title game. The Harts High School team, in its final season, was led by Andi Williamson, Poppy Ramey and Lauren McCann - three players that went on to lead the Chapmanville Regional High School Lady Tigers to last year's Class AA state championship.

The Maroon Knights also claimed two other Class A state titles this decade in 2000 and 2001.

Wheeling Central actually won seven straight Class A state championships from 1995-2001.

Wheeling Central, the same school which beat Man in the Class A state girls' basketball tournament in March, will be tough to beat.

The Maroon Knights, behind the pitching effort of Jen Sparachane, topped St. Marys 3-0 in the Region One championship game last Saturday at the same Darrell Dotson Softball Complex in the same town of Vienna.

Sparachane allowed just two hits. She also had an RBI single to put the Maroon Knights up 1-0.

''Jen didn't have her best stuff (Saturday) but she was able to adjust,'' Wheeling Central co-coach Ambrose Bober told the Wheeling Intelligencer newspaper.

Man and Wheeling Central did not meet each other during the regular season. They do not have any common opponents.

The Lady Billies enter the state tourney riding a 15-game winning streak.

Man sophomore all-state pitcher Marlena Frye has simply been brilliant this season for the Lady Billies. She's pitched all 24 games with a 21-3 record and has 306 strikeouts. She fanned 11 in the regional championship win at Buffalo. She has fired 14 shutouts on the season. Man and Frye have allowed just 13 runs the entire year.

It was first reported that Frye was nearing a state strikeout record but that turned out not to be the case. The record is a reported 394 strikeouts.

"She's had an excellent year with her pitching and we've done well. We've played a good schedule. We haven't played any weak teams. Hopefully that will pay off," Man coach Randy Epperly said in an earlier interview.

Man's only three losses of the season were consecutively in early April.

The Lady Billies lost 2-1 to then defending Class AA state champion Chapmanville in the championship game of Chapmanville's DUI Memorial Softball Tournament. Man then fell 2-1 at Scott and 2-0 at home to Logan, both Double-A teams, along with Chapmanville. Scott went on to beat Sherman 3-2 in last Saturday's Class AA regional title game at Logan and are also statebound this week.

Man went on to beat Scott 2-0 later in the season and also topped Logan 3-1 on the road.

The Lady Billies breezed in the post-season, crushing Van 10-0 and 13-0 in the sectional and then whitewashing overmatched Burch 20-1 in the regional semifinals. All three games were played at Man.

Man is making its first trip to the state tourney since 2000 when it beat Chapmanville 1-0 in the Class AA regional title game. The Lady Billies, then led by pitcher Shanda Ross, went 1-2 in the state tourney at Summersville to get ousted.

Man was able to get over the hump on Friday.

The Lady Billies had been beaten three straight years by Hamlin, Harts and Buffalo from 2005-07 to fall one game short of the state tourney.

On Friday, Man finally broke through.

Man won the state softball crown in 1983 back in the days when the state tourney was in just its third year. Back then, the state tourney was a single-class format.

Epperly said his team has been excited so far this season with all the success but said last week his players were under a lot of pressure.

"There's been so much pressure and expectations put on them," he said. "The expectations are so high I'm afraid that the pressure may get to them if they don't calm down a little bit and understand the situation. The last two or three years we've been in the same situation."

Wheeling Central has won 11 straight games heading into the state tourney.

The Maroon Knights' only two losses on the season were a 4-1 defeat to Steubenville Central (Ohio) in the Magnolia tourney and a 3-0 setback to Wheeling Linsly.

Other top players for Man include Tabby Johnston, Kaitlan Chapman, Malorie Vance, Paige Stacy, Mercedes Sharp, Katie Bryant, Malorie Keffer, Loren Whited and Jaclyn Dickerson.

If favored Man and Wheeling Central notch opening round wins they would meet in a crucial 4:30 p.m. winner's bracket contest on Wednesday. The victor of that game will then advance to the finals on Thursday at 2 p.m. The loser would have to win a loser's bracket contest at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, then turn around and win two more games that day in order to win the state title.

Winning two games on Wednesday will be critical for Man, which has used Frye in the circle all season long.

Under WVSSAC rules a pitcher can only pitch 14 innings in a day.

If Man was to split its games on Wednesday, Frye could only pitch two games on Thursday. If Man were to force a winner-take-all final on Thursday Frye would not be able to pitch.

Then there's the extra inning scenario.

If Man plays more than 14 innings in any given day another pitcher other than Frye would have to take to the circle.

Therefore, the Lady Billies will most likely try to mercy South Harrison in five innings in the opener in case the Wheeling Central game would go seven or even extra innings.

Wednesday's weather in the Parkersburg/Vienna area is calling for rain with a high of 65 and low of 46. On Thursday, the forecast is partly cloudy and a high of 66.

If inclement delays the state tourney, Friday would be used as a rain day. Friday's weather is calling for partly cloudy skies and a high of 70.