Lady Lions unable to pull even with Fayetteville
Lead Summary
By
The Highland County Press-
In their pursuit of another Southern Hills Athletic Conference title, the Fairfield Lady Lions gained help on a day off, but were unable to capitalize and pull even with the conference-leading Fayetteville Lady Rockets as they were shutout, 5-0 Saturday morning.
The loss at Fayetteville drops the Lady Lions to 7-4 in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference and 10-7 overall, while the host Lady Rockets jump to 8-2 in the conference and 19-3 overall, rebounding from a 7-6 loss the previous day to Peebles.
Fairfield's offense, again, struggled to put runners on base and score runs.
FHS put a runner in scoring position in the top of the first inning as Grace Larrick drew a base on balls with one out and stole second base. Fayetteville pitcher Whitney Boothby retired the next two Lady Lion hitters to get out of the first-inning jam. Cynnamon Sova-Davy singled with two outs in the second inning, but again, Boothby retired the next batter.
Fairfield pitcher Arica Melson and the Lady Lion defense retired the Lady Rockets in order through the first two innings, but ran into trouble in the bottom of the third.
Cornett of Fayetteville was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and Allen followed with a single down the left field line, advancing Cornett to second. Melson struck out the next batter for the first out. Wolfe singled to left-centerfield, but a strong throw to the plate forced Cornett to be held up at third base.
Claire Carson singled to right-centerfield to drive in Cornett and Allen. Boothby followed with a single to right field, scoring Wolfe, with Carson advancing to third base.
Hammons hit a ground ball to shortstop Kaitlin Evans, who threw to catcher Halie Chain to gun down Carson attempting to score with Boothby advancing to third base. With runners on first and third and two outs, the Fairfield dugout called for the Lady Lion defense to throw to second base on an attempted steal. The Lady Lion defense executed on the mark as catcher Halie Chain made a strong throw to second base with Evans applying the tag to end the inning.[[In-content Ad]]
Mikayla Coleman entered in pitching relief in the bottom of the fourth inning for the Lady Lions in relief of Arica Melson as the Lady Lions' defense kept themselves in the game, but the Lady Rockets put two more runs on the board with three consecutive hits in the bottom of the sixth inning.
FHS put runners on in the sixth and seventh innings as Larrick (2-for-2) singled in the sixth inning and Shaylee Carson singled in the seventh inning, but the Lady Lion offense failed to move them around the bases.
Melson (10-6) suffered the loss, pitching three innings. She allowed three earned runs on four hits and one walk, with three strikeouts. Coleman pitched three innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits and one walk and one strikeout.
Boothby was the winning pitcher as she pitched a complete seven-inning game. In the shutout performance, Boothby allowed no runs on four hits and one walk with seven strikeouts.
FHS will host the Ripley Lady Blue Jays on Tuesday for Senior Day. Prior to the game, the Fairfield Lady Lions will honor their seniors in Courtney Huff, Sirenity Smith and Amanda Sanderson with the game starting at 5 p.m.
The loss at Fayetteville drops the Lady Lions to 7-4 in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference and 10-7 overall, while the host Lady Rockets jump to 8-2 in the conference and 19-3 overall, rebounding from a 7-6 loss the previous day to Peebles.
Fairfield's offense, again, struggled to put runners on base and score runs.
FHS put a runner in scoring position in the top of the first inning as Grace Larrick drew a base on balls with one out and stole second base. Fayetteville pitcher Whitney Boothby retired the next two Lady Lion hitters to get out of the first-inning jam. Cynnamon Sova-Davy singled with two outs in the second inning, but again, Boothby retired the next batter.
Fairfield pitcher Arica Melson and the Lady Lion defense retired the Lady Rockets in order through the first two innings, but ran into trouble in the bottom of the third.
Cornett of Fayetteville was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and Allen followed with a single down the left field line, advancing Cornett to second. Melson struck out the next batter for the first out. Wolfe singled to left-centerfield, but a strong throw to the plate forced Cornett to be held up at third base.
Claire Carson singled to right-centerfield to drive in Cornett and Allen. Boothby followed with a single to right field, scoring Wolfe, with Carson advancing to third base.
Hammons hit a ground ball to shortstop Kaitlin Evans, who threw to catcher Halie Chain to gun down Carson attempting to score with Boothby advancing to third base. With runners on first and third and two outs, the Fairfield dugout called for the Lady Lion defense to throw to second base on an attempted steal. The Lady Lion defense executed on the mark as catcher Halie Chain made a strong throw to second base with Evans applying the tag to end the inning.[[In-content Ad]]
Mikayla Coleman entered in pitching relief in the bottom of the fourth inning for the Lady Lions in relief of Arica Melson as the Lady Lions' defense kept themselves in the game, but the Lady Rockets put two more runs on the board with three consecutive hits in the bottom of the sixth inning.
FHS put runners on in the sixth and seventh innings as Larrick (2-for-2) singled in the sixth inning and Shaylee Carson singled in the seventh inning, but the Lady Lion offense failed to move them around the bases.
Melson (10-6) suffered the loss, pitching three innings. She allowed three earned runs on four hits and one walk, with three strikeouts. Coleman pitched three innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits and one walk and one strikeout.
Boothby was the winning pitcher as she pitched a complete seven-inning game. In the shutout performance, Boothby allowed no runs on four hits and one walk with seven strikeouts.
FHS will host the Ripley Lady Blue Jays on Tuesday for Senior Day. Prior to the game, the Fairfield Lady Lions will honor their seniors in Courtney Huff, Sirenity Smith and Amanda Sanderson with the game starting at 5 p.m.