District Final Preview: Fairfield Lady Lions looking for 2nd district title in 3 years

The Division IV Minford 1 SE District Final game between the Fairfield Lady Lions and the Portsmouth Notre Dame Lady Titans will be a rematch of a non-conference regular season game played at a neutral field, but with much more on the line.

No. 1 seeded Fairfield (17-3) is looking for their second district title in three years, with six players on their current roster who were a part of the last district champion team in 2013.

Those six players are Grace Larrick, Shaylee Carson, Kaitlin Evans, Heather Sanderson, Arica Melson and Justice Hattan.

Entering this game, the Lady Lions have won six district titles in their history, with three coming since the 2000 season.

Getting to this point of the postseason, the Lady Lions have defeated Paint Valley in the sectional finals, 16-1 and in the district semifinal round, Fairfield defeated Trimble, 13-0, both five-inning run-rule wins.

The No. 3 seeded Lady Titans have defeated Eastern Beaver 5-4 and Symmes Valley, 8-5 in their path to the district final game.

When the two teams met on April 22 at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Fairfield not only won, 8-6 but out-hit Notre Dame, 9-8, and each team committed two errors.

In that game, Carson and Casey Carter each had a double, and Evans tallied a triple. Pitching for Notre Dame that day was Maggie Whitman, who allowed seven earned runs on nine hits and three walks. She struck out seven Lady Lions.

On the flip side, Melson in the April game allowed six runs (three earned) on eight hits and three walks. She struck out five Lady Titans in that win.

In just this postseason, Melson has dominated the competition with her pitching. In 10 innings, the senior has allowed just one earned run on six hits and eight walks. She has struck out 22 total batters en route to the district finals.

The Lady Lions at the plate have been red-hot, collecting 29 hits, 26 RBIs, 29 runs and four walks.

Individually for the Lady Lions, Hattan and Evans each have five hits this postseason. Evans is 5-for-6 with six runs and four RBIs, and Hattan is 5-for-6 with four runs and seven RBIs (including two home runs). In the district semifinals, Hattan hit a three-run home run, and against Paint Valley at FHS in the sectionals, she hit a two-run home run off the scoreboard.

Carson enters the district finals 4-for-8 with four runs and four RBIs. Larrick, Sanderson and Casey Carter each have three hits in the postseason, with Sanderson hitting a three-run home run in the sectional round.

Larrick is 3-for-6 this postseason with four runs, two walks and an RBI as the lead-off batter, and Sanderson is 3-for-5 with six RBIs and three runs. Carter has gone 3-for-4 combined in two postseason games with two RBIs and a walk as the No. 8 batter in the lineup.

Kourtnie Smith is 2-for-4 in two postseason games with one run and one RBI, and Emily Williams is 2-for-3 with one run and one walk.

The Lady Lions and Lady Titans are set to play for the Minford 1 SE District championship at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 23 at Minford High School.