Lady Lions shutout Lady 'Cats

The Fairfield Lady Lions shutout their fourth consecutive Southern Hills Athletic Conference opponent, Friday, defeating the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats, 4-0.  

Lady Lions pitcher Arica Melson threw her second one-hit shutout in as many days, and the Lady Lions faced one of the best pitchers in Ohio in Whiteoak’s Kylie Sosby.

Melson and Sosby squared off in a pitchers' duel, as Sosby totaled 18 strikeouts and Melson had 12. 

Grace Larrick led off the first inning, reaching first base on a dropped third strike. She stole second base on the next pitch. Kaitlin Evans had a slap bunt to the left side of the infield for a single, advancing Larrick to third base.  

Evans stole second base to set the table for Shelby Smithson. It was a matchup of interest all game long, with an All-State pitcher vs. an All-State hitter.  

Sosby won the first round, catching Smithson on a called strike three on the outside corner.  

Cynnamon Sova-Davy laid down a bunt back to Sosby, but she held the runner at third base as Sova-Davy reached first to load the bases. Sosby worked out of the bases-loaded jam with back-to-back strikeouts.

WHS put two runners on base in the bottom of the first inning on consecutive walks, but Melson struck out the next two batters, ending the inning with a ground ball back to the circle. 

Both pitchers continued to dominate in the early innings.

Sosby retired eight consecutive Lady Lion hitters in the first three innings. Melson retired 12 consecutive Lady Wildcat batters in the first through fourth innings.

The Lady Lions were able to get to Sosby and the Lady Wildcats with three runs in the top of the fifth inning.  

Kourtnie Smith hit a hard ground ball to the left side and was safe on an error. Larrick was safe was on a slap bunt single to the left side, and when the throw was wide of first base, Smith scored and Larrick ended up on second base.

Smithson turned a Sosby fastball around, hitting it to right-centerfield for a triple, scoring Larrick. One out later, Halie Chain lined a single to right-centerfield to knock in Smithson.

FHS added a fourth run in the top of the sixth inning with two outs and no one on base, with Smith scoring the run.

Melson continued her dominance of SHAC hitters, retiring the last six batters in the sixth and seventh innings, including four strikeouts. The FHS junior improves to 5-0 with the victory.

The loss drops Sosby to 2-4 on the year, as she not only struck out 19 batters, but all four runs scored by the Lady Lions were unearned. She walked none and gave up four total hits.