Late rally not enough in Fairfield regional semifinal loss
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LANCASTER — A late seventh-inning rally by the Fairfield Lady Lions in the Division III Regional Semifinals at Lancaster High School fell just short of a win. What was troublesome for the Lady Lions throughout the game was they hit the ball hard, but straight to the Meadowbrook Lady Colts, ultimately resulting in a 3-2 loss.
The season-ending game for the Lady Lions saw them finish with three hits, all coming in the sixth and seventh innings, but the overall final tally of their hit total doesn’t do them justice in how hard they hit the softball, as facing the defense of the Lady Colts saw Fairfield’s season come to a close.
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For the game, Fairfield (20-7) finished 3-for-24 at the plate with one walk and two RBI. This postseason, the Lady Lions outscored their opponents, 27-3 in five tournament games.
Fairfield allowed one run in the bottom of the first inning, but the first Lady Colts batter of the game, Christyn Everly, reached first base on an error on the throw by the pitcher to first base. The first out of the game was recorded off a pop up bunt, where catcher Lauren Arnold made a diving catch for the out. Next, Kaiti White struck out the next Meadowbrook batter, but Lyndsey Dudley doubled to centerfield as the ball sailed just past the centerfielder to score Everly for the 1-0 lead.
“The first run they got on with an error, and that is very uncharacteristic of us as of late, and then their kid hit a fly ball that got over the centerfielder’s head and they scored,” Fairfield head coach Mark Dettwiller said. “We were hitting the ball hard the entire game. I mean, we were hitting the ball hard, but we were just hitting the ball right at them. What do you do?”
That lead stood until the bottom of the fifth inning, where Meadowbrook (19-7) scored two more runs for a 3-0 lead. They began the inning with a single to shallow centerfield off the bat of Sydney Farley, followed by a bunt single by Sidney Rhinehart. Both runners later stole a base, and then both scored with one out off a single to shallow centerfield by Caitlyn Byard, who was then caught in a rundown at second base for the second out of the inning, but not before both runners scored.
Before the late-seventh-inning rally of the Lady Lions, they had their first base runner in the top of the second when Layla Hattan reached first base off an infield error at second base. Then, a line drive in the ensuing at-bat resulted in a double play for Meadowbrook, as the tough-luck hitting of the Lady Lions saw a potential line drive end up an unassisted double play by the Meadowbrook first baseman.
Fairfield opened the top of the fourth with a walk drawn by Lyndee Spargur, who stole second base and went to third on a passed ball. She was left stranded on the bases following a pop up to the second baseman and then two line drive outs to the shortstop and first base.
The Lady Lions had their first hit of the game in the top of the sixth with Madison Fox hitting the ball to shallow centerfield with one out. Fox was left stranded on the bases, with the next two batters striking out to end the inning.
Then came the inning where the softball finally fell the way of the Lady Lions, with Kaiti White singling past second base for the Lady Lions’ second hit of the game. Next was a base hit by Hattan to right field, moving White to second base, but an error on the throw back to first sent White to third and Hattan to second base with no outs.
A sacrifice fly to centerfield by Arnold scored White from third base, and a ground out to the shortstop off the bat of Lawson allowed Hattan to score the second Fairfield run. The game ended with a strikeout, with FHS falling by one run.
What can’t be overlooked is the pitching of White (19-6) in her six innings in the circle. White allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and no walks. The junior ace finished with 11 strikeouts in the loss. White struck out two or more batters in the first, second, fourth and sixth innings, including the second inning where she struck out the side in order.
For the postseason (five starts), White totaled 48 strikeouts.
“Kaiti threw extremely well, and she pitched well enough to win that game,” Dettwiller said.
Fairfield says goodbye to three seniors in Carli Reiber, Ashley Moore and Emily Williams, as the Lady Lions have won four straight district championships and played in the regionals the past four seasons.
“I don’t know of many schools around here who have played in four straight regional games, and these seniors … their work ethic is second to none,” Dettwiller said. “Their work ethic is unbelievable, and that trickles down to the underclassmen and those kids are picking up that work ethic. They will be missed greatly.”
The Lady Lions have many talented players set to return next season, and their junior high level has talented players too, according to Dettwiller.
“We are set for the next couple years with players returning, and we have talented players at the middle school level too,” Dettwiller said. “I’m really looking forward to the next few years here. I also appreciate all the fans coming here and supporting us. We had a lot of red here, and it means a lot to us.”
The season-ending game for the Lady Lions saw them finish with three hits, all coming in the sixth and seventh innings, but the overall final tally of their hit total doesn’t do them justice in how hard they hit the softball, as facing the defense of the Lady Colts saw Fairfield’s season come to a close.
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For the game, Fairfield (20-7) finished 3-for-24 at the plate with one walk and two RBI. This postseason, the Lady Lions outscored their opponents, 27-3 in five tournament games.
Fairfield allowed one run in the bottom of the first inning, but the first Lady Colts batter of the game, Christyn Everly, reached first base on an error on the throw by the pitcher to first base. The first out of the game was recorded off a pop up bunt, where catcher Lauren Arnold made a diving catch for the out. Next, Kaiti White struck out the next Meadowbrook batter, but Lyndsey Dudley doubled to centerfield as the ball sailed just past the centerfielder to score Everly for the 1-0 lead.
“The first run they got on with an error, and that is very uncharacteristic of us as of late, and then their kid hit a fly ball that got over the centerfielder’s head and they scored,” Fairfield head coach Mark Dettwiller said. “We were hitting the ball hard the entire game. I mean, we were hitting the ball hard, but we were just hitting the ball right at them. What do you do?”
That lead stood until the bottom of the fifth inning, where Meadowbrook (19-7) scored two more runs for a 3-0 lead. They began the inning with a single to shallow centerfield off the bat of Sydney Farley, followed by a bunt single by Sidney Rhinehart. Both runners later stole a base, and then both scored with one out off a single to shallow centerfield by Caitlyn Byard, who was then caught in a rundown at second base for the second out of the inning, but not before both runners scored.
Before the late-seventh-inning rally of the Lady Lions, they had their first base runner in the top of the second when Layla Hattan reached first base off an infield error at second base. Then, a line drive in the ensuing at-bat resulted in a double play for Meadowbrook, as the tough-luck hitting of the Lady Lions saw a potential line drive end up an unassisted double play by the Meadowbrook first baseman.
Fairfield opened the top of the fourth with a walk drawn by Lyndee Spargur, who stole second base and went to third on a passed ball. She was left stranded on the bases following a pop up to the second baseman and then two line drive outs to the shortstop and first base.
The Lady Lions had their first hit of the game in the top of the sixth with Madison Fox hitting the ball to shallow centerfield with one out. Fox was left stranded on the bases, with the next two batters striking out to end the inning.
Then came the inning where the softball finally fell the way of the Lady Lions, with Kaiti White singling past second base for the Lady Lions’ second hit of the game. Next was a base hit by Hattan to right field, moving White to second base, but an error on the throw back to first sent White to third and Hattan to second base with no outs.
A sacrifice fly to centerfield by Arnold scored White from third base, and a ground out to the shortstop off the bat of Lawson allowed Hattan to score the second Fairfield run. The game ended with a strikeout, with FHS falling by one run.
What can’t be overlooked is the pitching of White (19-6) in her six innings in the circle. White allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and no walks. The junior ace finished with 11 strikeouts in the loss. White struck out two or more batters in the first, second, fourth and sixth innings, including the second inning where she struck out the side in order.
For the postseason (five starts), White totaled 48 strikeouts.
“Kaiti threw extremely well, and she pitched well enough to win that game,” Dettwiller said.
Fairfield says goodbye to three seniors in Carli Reiber, Ashley Moore and Emily Williams, as the Lady Lions have won four straight district championships and played in the regionals the past four seasons.
“I don’t know of many schools around here who have played in four straight regional games, and these seniors … their work ethic is second to none,” Dettwiller said. “Their work ethic is unbelievable, and that trickles down to the underclassmen and those kids are picking up that work ethic. They will be missed greatly.”
The Lady Lions have many talented players set to return next season, and their junior high level has talented players too, according to Dettwiller.
“We are set for the next couple years with players returning, and we have talented players at the middle school level too,” Dettwiller said. “I’m really looking forward to the next few years here. I also appreciate all the fans coming here and supporting us. We had a lot of red here, and it means a lot to us.”