Lady Lions rally past Whiteoak for 10th consecutive win

LEESBURG — Cynnamon Sova-Davy laid down a perfect bunt between the pitcher and first base, while Kaitlin Evans raced from third as soon as the pitch was let go, with two outs and the game on the line in the final inning.

The suicide squeeze with the game on the line worked perfectly for the Fairfield Lady Lions, as Evans dove headfirst to home plate and Sova-Davy reached first base safely for the 4-3 win over rival Whiteoak, Thursday at FHS.

The improbable rally by the Lady Lions didn't look like it was going to come to fruition from outside of the Lady Lions dugout, as they trailed by a 3-0 score and faced an All-State pitcher who has over 600 career strikeouts.

But as Fairfield head coach Mark Dettwiller said following the game … "The girls don't quit."

"We kept scratching and kept fighting, and we rolled the dice with a squeeze. Cynnamon got a perfect bunt down and safe at first, Kaitlin scored from third and ball game," Dettwiller said. "It was an absolute thing of beauty."

Dettwiller spoke about what was going through his mind as the play was about to occur, as he and assistant coach Tom Purtell said Sova-Davy is one of the best bunters on the team.

"Just get it on the ground," he said with a laugh. "Just get it in the dirt."

Fairfield's rally began in the sixth, entering the inning trailing 3-0, but they left their half of the inning with the score tied at 3-3 off two hits and two errors.

Evans began the bottom of the sixth with a single and then moved to second base. On a fly out by Shelby Smithson, Evans moved over and scored on a fielder's choice hit into by Sova-Davy.

FHS finished with seven hits, as Evans finished 3-for-3 with two runs. Sova-Davy went 2-for-4 with one run and two RBIs.

As the sixth continued, Heather Sanderson batted in Sova-Davy and Halie Chain (who reached base via error) on a line drive to right field, as all three runs in the inning were unearned.

"Heather's key single down the line kept us alive," Dettwiller said. "Again, these girls never quit. We made them throw a lot of pitches."

Then we know the story of the game-winning run by the Lady Lions, with Evans reaching on a single that went under the infielder's glove, then taking second base. She moved to third on a ground out by Smithson and scored on the infield hit by Sova-Davy.

"Against a quality pitcher like (Kiley) Sosby, you have to take risks and take advantage of mistakes," Dettwiller said.

Purtell spoke about how their team speed puts pressure on their opponents.

"Our speed puts pressure on a defense," he said. "A lot of teams have struggled with our speed this year. And not only our speed, but this win really shows the depth of our team … it really does."

Though it was FHS who rallied and won, it was WHS who applied the pressure early on, with one run in the first and two more runs in the third.

In the first, Sosby scored from third base during an at-bat by Jayde Parr.

The third inning saw Jaycie Parr and Alexis Jones cross home plate off a single by Sosby. In the same sequence of events, Jones scored for the 3-0 lead.

WHS finished with five hits again the Lady Lions with Sosby going 3-for-3 with one RBI and one run. Jaycie Parr and Morgan Thompson also had one hit each. Ashleigh Harless forced two walks.

Also with a hit for FHS in the game was Shelby Smithson.

The winning pitcher was Arica Melson, who pitched a complete game. She allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks. She finished with 14 strikeouts.

Sosby was charged with the loss, going 6.2 innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on seven hits and one walk. Sosby finished with 13 strikeouts.