Lady Lions win sectional; move on to districts
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — Fairfield put the bat on the ball, took advantage of errors and followed their pitching to a Division IV SE District Sectional Final win on Thursday night, defeating the Western Latham Indians by a 9-1 score.
The No. 1 seeded Lady Lions (18-4 overall) move on to the district semifinal at Minford on Tuesday, as they will face the No. 4 seeded Glouster Trimble Tomcats at 4:30 p.m. at Minford High School. Trimble defeated Racine Southern (a No. 5 seed), 3-2 on Thursday.
“We played well for the most part, had outstanding defense and offensively we hit the ball well,” FHS head coach Mark Dettwiller said. “Kaiti threw an outstanding game, and this was a good way to start the postseason tournament.
“We are happy to get back down to Minford, and credit Western, they are better than what their record shows.”
In their sectional final game on Thursday, the Lady Lions controlled the pace of the game against the No. 9 seeded Western team, scoring five runs in the bottom of the second inning, good enough for a 5-0 lead.
The inning began with a walk forced by Kourtnie Smith, followed by bunt singles by Lauren Arnold and Megan Gragg to load the bases. Lyndee Spargur forced a bases-loaded walk to plate Smith for the first run of the game. After one out, Grace Larrick reached on an infield error to score both Arnold and Gragg for a three-run lead. From there, Kaiti White singled in two runs with both Larrick and Spargur rounding the bases for the 5-0 advantage.
One run was plated in the bottom of the third with Arnold singling to left field with one out and eventually scoring on an infield error by the Western infield with two outs.
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Fairfield’s lead went to nine runs by adding three runs in the bottom of the fourth with Carli Reiber walking to lead off the inning, followed by White taking first on an infield error. With one out, a single down the third base line by Smith put her on first base. With the bases full, Arnold reached the bases on an error, scoring both Reiber and Shania Setty (pinch running for White). A double by Smith plated Arnold for the ninth Lady Lion run.
Western scored their lone run in the top of the sixth.
White led all batters with a 3-for-4 day at the plate, followed by Smith, Arnold and Gragg with two hits each. Totaling one hit apiece were Emily Williams, Spargur and Sherry Heckathorn. Spragur also drew two walks, while Smith and Reiber also forced walks in the postseason win.
For the game, FHS reached the bases five times via Latham errors.
White was also the winning pitcher for the Lady Lions. The freshman pitched all seven innings in the circle, allowing one run on four hits and no walks. She finished with 10 strikeouts.
The No. 1 seeded Lady Lions (18-4 overall) move on to the district semifinal at Minford on Tuesday, as they will face the No. 4 seeded Glouster Trimble Tomcats at 4:30 p.m. at Minford High School. Trimble defeated Racine Southern (a No. 5 seed), 3-2 on Thursday.
“We played well for the most part, had outstanding defense and offensively we hit the ball well,” FHS head coach Mark Dettwiller said. “Kaiti threw an outstanding game, and this was a good way to start the postseason tournament.
“We are happy to get back down to Minford, and credit Western, they are better than what their record shows.”
In their sectional final game on Thursday, the Lady Lions controlled the pace of the game against the No. 9 seeded Western team, scoring five runs in the bottom of the second inning, good enough for a 5-0 lead.
The inning began with a walk forced by Kourtnie Smith, followed by bunt singles by Lauren Arnold and Megan Gragg to load the bases. Lyndee Spargur forced a bases-loaded walk to plate Smith for the first run of the game. After one out, Grace Larrick reached on an infield error to score both Arnold and Gragg for a three-run lead. From there, Kaiti White singled in two runs with both Larrick and Spargur rounding the bases for the 5-0 advantage.
One run was plated in the bottom of the third with Arnold singling to left field with one out and eventually scoring on an infield error by the Western infield with two outs.
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Fairfield’s lead went to nine runs by adding three runs in the bottom of the fourth with Carli Reiber walking to lead off the inning, followed by White taking first on an infield error. With one out, a single down the third base line by Smith put her on first base. With the bases full, Arnold reached the bases on an error, scoring both Reiber and Shania Setty (pinch running for White). A double by Smith plated Arnold for the ninth Lady Lion run.
Western scored their lone run in the top of the sixth.
White led all batters with a 3-for-4 day at the plate, followed by Smith, Arnold and Gragg with two hits each. Totaling one hit apiece were Emily Williams, Spargur and Sherry Heckathorn. Spragur also drew two walks, while Smith and Reiber also forced walks in the postseason win.
For the game, FHS reached the bases five times via Latham errors.
White was also the winning pitcher for the Lady Lions. The freshman pitched all seven innings in the circle, allowing one run on four hits and no walks. She finished with 10 strikeouts.