White tosses two-hitter; Lady Lions top Peebles

The Fairfield Lady Lions began Southern Hills Athletic Conference play by hosting the Peebles Lady Indians, and the home team didn’t disappoint their home crowd, as they dominated with an 11-1 win over the Peebles Lady Indians.

FHS didn’t just impress with their at-bats, but their pitching as well, with freshman Kaiti White tossing a two-hitter in the SHAC win.

At the plate, Emily Williams and White combined for five hits and seven RBIs on the afternoon.

The Lady Lions (1-0, 2-1) wasted no time following the pitching effort of White and the Lady Lion defense, as they retired the first three Lady Indian hitters on eight pitches in the top of the first inning.

FHS put a run up in the home half of the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead, as Grace Larrick and Carli Reiber drew consecutive walks to lead off the inning. Kortnie Smith moved the runners over on a ground ball out to the shortstop. With two outs, White helped her own cause by lacing a single up the middle to score Larrick.

The Lady Lions scored three more runs in the bottom of the second inning, beginning with Casey Carter singling to left field. Shania Setty followed with a walk, and Lyndee Spargur had a bunt single with Carter scoring on a throwing error. Larrick followed with a walk, and Carli Reiber knocked in Spargur on a ground ball to the shortstop as Larrick took third.

Larrick then stole home for the third run of the inning.

Peebles scored an unearned run in the top of the fourth inning on two errors by the Lady Lion defense, but the Lady Lions answered with three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning with all three runs coming with two outs and no one on base.

Reiber drew a two-out walk, and Smith was safe on an error. Williams drove Reiber and Smith in with a line drive hit up the middle, and White ripped a line drive hit to right field as Williams raced to third base. Lauren Arnold hit a line drive down the left field line to score Williams.

White and the Lady Lion defense retired the Lady Indians in order in the top of the fifth inning, as the inning featured a spectacular diving catch of a ground ball by Larrick.

FHS ended the game early with four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning for the run-rule victory.

Setty led off the inning with a walk, while Larrick and Reiber each drew a walk to load the bases. Williams followed with a line drive single down the left field line to drive in Setty and Larrick. White followed with a double to left-centerfield to score Reiber and Williams, ending the game.

Kaiti White (2-0) was the winning pitcher for Fairfield. She threw five innings, allowing one run (unearned) on two hits and no walks. She finished with seven strikeouts. 

The Lady Lions will host the Paint Valley Lady Bearcats, featuring All-State pitcher Mikayla Newland, on Wednesday, March 30 at 5 p.m. in Leesburg.