Fairfield wins SHAC battle with Peebles
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — Once again, the Fairfield Lady Lions went onto their home softball diamond and defended it to stay undefeated in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference. Tuesday night saw the Peebles Lady Indians visit the Lady Lions, and this round went to the home team.
Fairfield scored one run early, and late in the game they added four more runs to gain a 5-0 SHAC win over Peebles to win the battle of the undefeated teams.
Fairfield — now 7-0 in the SHAC and 11-0 overall — totaled nine hits, but like they do on most occasions, they used stingy defense and clutch at-bats to gain the victory, including scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to make a close 1-0 score become out of reach for the SHAC opponent as senior Kaiti White was dealing in the circle.
White pitched a one-hit shutout, and in the process of keeping the Lady Indians from rounding home plate, she gave everyone in attendance a lesson on how to dominate in the circle as she not only used her power in her pitching, but like usual, she used her off-speed pitches to keep the opposing batters off-balanced.
The senior pitcher, White, finished with a complete game where she allowed no runs on one hit, one walk and she totaled 13 strikeouts.
Fairfield got the scoreboard working early in the bottom of the first inning with Megan Gragg starting her big-time day with a double hit to left field on the second pitch she saw in the at-bat. Next came a single from Kaiti White, who sent the ball on a hard-hit pitch to left field to plate Gragg for the early 1-0 lead. Gragg finished 3-for-3 with two runs scored.
“We stress all the time getting up on the opponent and it is tough to play from behind, and we were able to get up one on them in the first. Megan hit a double and Kaiti was able to get a single and got up early. That was huge,” Fairfield head coach Mark Dettwiller said.
That score stood until the bottom of the sixth inning arrived, but getting to that point saw two pitchers and defenses make each team work for everything they earned.
That process continued in the top of the second where Kylie Sims of Peebles (5-1, 10-1) led off the inning with a triple on a 2-1 count, as the ball landed in left field. The problem for Sims was that White went into full-on attack mode from the circle and struck out the next three batters in order on 15 pitches, including the final out of the inning being a called third strike on a full count.
Peebles pitcher Madison Pierce nearly equaled the feat with a two-strikeout inning in the bottom of the second, and the process of scoreless softball continued throughout the next few innings, including White striking out two of the three batters she faced in the fourth inning.
White continued the pattern of striking out batters with three more strikeouts against the three batters she faced in the top of the fifth inning, including a called third strike for the first out.
The Lady Lions had a base runner in the bottom of the fifth when Halle Hamilton hit a single to left field with two outs. Hamilton also stole second, but the inning was ended on a fielder’s choice, keeping the score at 1-0.
The top of the sixth was three up, three down with a called third strike pitched by White, followed by a groundout to second and a pop up to catcher Lauren Arnold for the third out.
The bottom of the sixth inning was the inning which broke the game wide open for the Lady Lions, beginning with an infield single off the bat of Gragg, followed by a double to centerfield by White (2-for-3), moving Gragg to third base.
Next was a base hit to left field by Layla Hattan with the ball going to right field on a ball hit over the first baseman for the RBI as Gragg crossed home plate. Following the first out of the inning, Taylor Lawson battled back from an 0-2 count to a 2-2 count, and by keeping the inning alive, she smashed the ball down the first base line to knock in White for a 3-0 lead.
Fairfield wasn’t finished as Hayleigh Lowe also singled to right field to plate Hattan for a 4-0 advantage. The fifth and final run was batted in as Molly Thackston grounded out to second base, scoring pinch runner Caitlin Campbell for the five-run lead.
“Pierce is a really good pitcher, and she’s pounding the outside. We work all the time on hitting the outside pitch and hitting it to the opposite corner, and today it finally clicked,” Dettwiller said.
White and the Lady Lions' defense sealed the win in the top of the seventh, as she had two strikeouts to start the inning and slammed the door shut on the SHAC win by forcing a groundout to second base.
Next for Fairfield is an SHAC game on Thursday, April 11 at home against West Union.
Fairfield scored one run early, and late in the game they added four more runs to gain a 5-0 SHAC win over Peebles to win the battle of the undefeated teams.
Fairfield — now 7-0 in the SHAC and 11-0 overall — totaled nine hits, but like they do on most occasions, they used stingy defense and clutch at-bats to gain the victory, including scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to make a close 1-0 score become out of reach for the SHAC opponent as senior Kaiti White was dealing in the circle.
White pitched a one-hit shutout, and in the process of keeping the Lady Indians from rounding home plate, she gave everyone in attendance a lesson on how to dominate in the circle as she not only used her power in her pitching, but like usual, she used her off-speed pitches to keep the opposing batters off-balanced.
The senior pitcher, White, finished with a complete game where she allowed no runs on one hit, one walk and she totaled 13 strikeouts.
Fairfield got the scoreboard working early in the bottom of the first inning with Megan Gragg starting her big-time day with a double hit to left field on the second pitch she saw in the at-bat. Next came a single from Kaiti White, who sent the ball on a hard-hit pitch to left field to plate Gragg for the early 1-0 lead. Gragg finished 3-for-3 with two runs scored.
“We stress all the time getting up on the opponent and it is tough to play from behind, and we were able to get up one on them in the first. Megan hit a double and Kaiti was able to get a single and got up early. That was huge,” Fairfield head coach Mark Dettwiller said.
That score stood until the bottom of the sixth inning arrived, but getting to that point saw two pitchers and defenses make each team work for everything they earned.
That process continued in the top of the second where Kylie Sims of Peebles (5-1, 10-1) led off the inning with a triple on a 2-1 count, as the ball landed in left field. The problem for Sims was that White went into full-on attack mode from the circle and struck out the next three batters in order on 15 pitches, including the final out of the inning being a called third strike on a full count.
Peebles pitcher Madison Pierce nearly equaled the feat with a two-strikeout inning in the bottom of the second, and the process of scoreless softball continued throughout the next few innings, including White striking out two of the three batters she faced in the fourth inning.
White continued the pattern of striking out batters with three more strikeouts against the three batters she faced in the top of the fifth inning, including a called third strike for the first out.
The Lady Lions had a base runner in the bottom of the fifth when Halle Hamilton hit a single to left field with two outs. Hamilton also stole second, but the inning was ended on a fielder’s choice, keeping the score at 1-0.
The top of the sixth was three up, three down with a called third strike pitched by White, followed by a groundout to second and a pop up to catcher Lauren Arnold for the third out.
The bottom of the sixth inning was the inning which broke the game wide open for the Lady Lions, beginning with an infield single off the bat of Gragg, followed by a double to centerfield by White (2-for-3), moving Gragg to third base.
Next was a base hit to left field by Layla Hattan with the ball going to right field on a ball hit over the first baseman for the RBI as Gragg crossed home plate. Following the first out of the inning, Taylor Lawson battled back from an 0-2 count to a 2-2 count, and by keeping the inning alive, she smashed the ball down the first base line to knock in White for a 3-0 lead.
Fairfield wasn’t finished as Hayleigh Lowe also singled to right field to plate Hattan for a 4-0 advantage. The fifth and final run was batted in as Molly Thackston grounded out to second base, scoring pinch runner Caitlin Campbell for the five-run lead.
“Pierce is a really good pitcher, and she’s pounding the outside. We work all the time on hitting the outside pitch and hitting it to the opposite corner, and today it finally clicked,” Dettwiller said.
White and the Lady Lions' defense sealed the win in the top of the seventh, as she had two strikeouts to start the inning and slammed the door shut on the SHAC win by forcing a groundout to second base.
Next for Fairfield is an SHAC game on Thursday, April 11 at home against West Union.