Regional Semifinal Preview: Fairfield Lady Lions back in familiar spot
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
For the fourth straight season, the Fairfield Lady Lions will be playing in the regional semifinal round, but this time the scenery will be a bit different. The opposition won’t be the same, either, as 2018 has the Lady Lions playing in the Division III Regional Semifinals compared to the past three seasons when they were playing in Division IV.
Switching divisions hasn’t made much of a difference at all for the Lady Lions, as they not only enter their regional semifinal game against the Meadowbrook Lady Colts with a 20-6 overall record, but they have shut out each opponent on their way to the regionals, outscoring their postseason opponents by a 27-0 combined score. Meadowbrook enters the regional round at 18-7 overall.
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FHS has done so by not only rallying behind the pitching of ace Kaiti White, but they have used near-perfect defense and have taken advantage of having a keen eye at the plate, along with taking advantage of miscues by their opponents.
The Lady Lions — a No. 3 seed in the SE District — are coming off a district final win over Chesapeake by a 3-0 score, but before that, in the district semifinals, they took down Alexander, 9-0. In the sectional round, the Lady Lions dominated North Adams in the sectional semifinals by a 10-0 score and Piketon in the sectional finals at 6-0.
As for Meadowbrook, they, too, have had a very successful postseason. The Lady Colts won their district championship with a 4-0 victory as an East No. 4 seed over Bellaire. In the district semifinal, the Lady Colts won by a 12-4 score over Ridgewood. In the sectional finals, Meadowbrook defeated Harrison Central, 4-3.
For the Lady Colts, this is just their second trip to the regional semifinals in program history, and they are coached by Bridget George.
Jeff Harrison of The Daily Jeffersonian wrote in a recent article that senior Christyn Everly has a .520 batting average in recent games, while junior Mallori Voytko has a .434 batting average with 31 RBI. There are others at the plate for the Lady Colts to watch for, but in the circle Alyssa Marlatt has a 14-7 record this season with 113 strikeouts.
During their four postseason tournament games, the Lady Lions have totaled 43 hits, 28 runs, 25 RBI, 10 walks and have struck out just eight times. Lauren Arnold leads Fairfield in the postseason with nine hits, followed by lead-off hitter Lyndee Spargur with eight hits and Kaiti White with six. Carli Reiber, Taylor Lawson and Madison Fox each have four hits, followed by Layla Hattan and Megan Gragg with three hits each, while Molly Thackston has two hits this postseason.
Arnold also leads Fairfield this postseason with seven RBI, while White has five and Reiber has totaled four. Lawson has drawn four walks to lead Fairfield in four tournament games, and Spargur leads FHS with seven runs scored since the sectional semifinals.
From the circle, White (19-5) has pitched 26 innings this postseason with no runs allowed on 18 hits, three walks and has tallied 37 strikeouts, facing 100 batters.
The Lady Lions and Lady Colts will play at Lancaster High School at 3 p.m. in the regional semifinals.
Switching divisions hasn’t made much of a difference at all for the Lady Lions, as they not only enter their regional semifinal game against the Meadowbrook Lady Colts with a 20-6 overall record, but they have shut out each opponent on their way to the regionals, outscoring their postseason opponents by a 27-0 combined score. Meadowbrook enters the regional round at 18-7 overall.
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FHS has done so by not only rallying behind the pitching of ace Kaiti White, but they have used near-perfect defense and have taken advantage of having a keen eye at the plate, along with taking advantage of miscues by their opponents.
The Lady Lions — a No. 3 seed in the SE District — are coming off a district final win over Chesapeake by a 3-0 score, but before that, in the district semifinals, they took down Alexander, 9-0. In the sectional round, the Lady Lions dominated North Adams in the sectional semifinals by a 10-0 score and Piketon in the sectional finals at 6-0.
As for Meadowbrook, they, too, have had a very successful postseason. The Lady Colts won their district championship with a 4-0 victory as an East No. 4 seed over Bellaire. In the district semifinal, the Lady Colts won by a 12-4 score over Ridgewood. In the sectional finals, Meadowbrook defeated Harrison Central, 4-3.
For the Lady Colts, this is just their second trip to the regional semifinals in program history, and they are coached by Bridget George.
Jeff Harrison of The Daily Jeffersonian wrote in a recent article that senior Christyn Everly has a .520 batting average in recent games, while junior Mallori Voytko has a .434 batting average with 31 RBI. There are others at the plate for the Lady Colts to watch for, but in the circle Alyssa Marlatt has a 14-7 record this season with 113 strikeouts.
During their four postseason tournament games, the Lady Lions have totaled 43 hits, 28 runs, 25 RBI, 10 walks and have struck out just eight times. Lauren Arnold leads Fairfield in the postseason with nine hits, followed by lead-off hitter Lyndee Spargur with eight hits and Kaiti White with six. Carli Reiber, Taylor Lawson and Madison Fox each have four hits, followed by Layla Hattan and Megan Gragg with three hits each, while Molly Thackston has two hits this postseason.
Arnold also leads Fairfield this postseason with seven RBI, while White has five and Reiber has totaled four. Lawson has drawn four walks to lead Fairfield in four tournament games, and Spargur leads FHS with seven runs scored since the sectional semifinals.
From the circle, White (19-5) has pitched 26 innings this postseason with no runs allowed on 18 hits, three walks and has tallied 37 strikeouts, facing 100 batters.
The Lady Lions and Lady Colts will play at Lancaster High School at 3 p.m. in the regional semifinals.