Fairfield Lady Lions post 3rd perfect SHAC season in 4 years; White tosses no-hitter
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — Perfect conference seasons and Fairfield softball seem to go hand in hand in recent seasons, as for the third time in the past four years, the Lady Lions are a perfect 13-0. They achieved that feat on Tuesday by dominating the rival Whiteoak Lady Wildcats, 15-0, with a no-hitter pitched by senior Kaiti White.
Much was achieved by the Lady Lions in front of their home fans against their Highland County counterpart, with White tossing another no-hitter this season, this time allowing no runs and no walks, as she was just one team error shy of the perfect game. White finished the game with eight strikeouts, as she faced a total of 16 batters in five innings in the circle.
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White is a 20-game winner for the third time in her career, as she is now 20-1 on the season in the circle. On Tuesday, White struck out multiple batters twice in an inning, including the third inning where she struck out all three batters. White — whose no-hitter was caught by fellow senior Lauren Arnold — also recorded at least one strikeout in each inning pitched in the SHAC win.
“We played solid defense behind Kaiti White, and she was tough tonight,” FHS head coach Mark Dettwiller said.
As for the conference championship — the fourth consecutive — this is the Lady Lions’ ninth perfect SHAC season and their first since 2017. The championship is also their 21st conference title since winning their first one in 1976. FHS has won the SHAC Division II title five times since the 2014 season.
This season, in their 13 conference wins, the Lady Lions have outscored their counterparts in the SHAC, 117-5 — including 10 shutouts.
On Tuesday, the Lady Lions scored four runs in the first inning for a 4-0 advantage but then really changed the entire pace of the game by having a 10-run second inning for a 14-0 lead. In the bottom of the fourth inning, FHS added one final run.
Fairfield totaled 17 hits in the win, as White, Lauren Arnold and Taylor Lawson each collected three-hit days. White finished 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBI. Arnold was a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs and three RBI. Also for FHS, Lawson was 3-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
Layla Hattan finished 2-for-2 with two runs and one RBI. Hayleigh Lowe was 2-for-3 with one run and two RBI. Teammate Molly Thackston ended the game at 2-for-3 with one run.
Having one hit each were Megan Gragg (one run, one RBI) and Harley Flint (one RBI). Also for the Lady Lions, Lyndee Spargur scored two runs and had two RBI. Halle Hamilton finished with one run scored and one RBI.
For the game, WHS committed three errors and FHS had one. The loss went to Brooklyn Gross, and also pitching in relief was Ann Ames. Ames finished with three strikeouts against 11 batters faced.
Seniors celebrated before and after the game for the Lady Lions were Kaiti White, Lauren Arnold, Hayleigh Lowe, Lyndee Spargur and Megan Gragg.
“Kaiti has been a workhorse for us the past four years in the circle, and she leads the team in about every offensive category,” Dettwiller said. “She is just one heck of an athlete. Lauren has been our catcher the past two years, and the two previous years before that she played third base for us. She very quietly gets it done. You never hear a word out of her, and all of a sudden she hits two or three off the bus garage, and she’s just a good ball player.
“Lyndee is a phenomenal team leader, and she also quietly gets it done. She’s a four-year starter at first base, and she’s had years where she’s had no errors, and for a first baseman, that doesn’t happen much.
“Hayleigh Lowe for the past three years has been Kaiti’s wheels, and she’s always been a pinch runner for her, but this year she moved to left field and she competed for the spot and earned it. Megan, our centerfielder, is one of the best outfielders around that I’ve seen in the district. She bats second in the order this year and has really produced. I’m super proud of all five of them.”
Much was achieved by the Lady Lions in front of their home fans against their Highland County counterpart, with White tossing another no-hitter this season, this time allowing no runs and no walks, as she was just one team error shy of the perfect game. White finished the game with eight strikeouts, as she faced a total of 16 batters in five innings in the circle.
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White is a 20-game winner for the third time in her career, as she is now 20-1 on the season in the circle. On Tuesday, White struck out multiple batters twice in an inning, including the third inning where she struck out all three batters. White — whose no-hitter was caught by fellow senior Lauren Arnold — also recorded at least one strikeout in each inning pitched in the SHAC win.
“We played solid defense behind Kaiti White, and she was tough tonight,” FHS head coach Mark Dettwiller said.
As for the conference championship — the fourth consecutive — this is the Lady Lions’ ninth perfect SHAC season and their first since 2017. The championship is also their 21st conference title since winning their first one in 1976. FHS has won the SHAC Division II title five times since the 2014 season.
This season, in their 13 conference wins, the Lady Lions have outscored their counterparts in the SHAC, 117-5 — including 10 shutouts.
On Tuesday, the Lady Lions scored four runs in the first inning for a 4-0 advantage but then really changed the entire pace of the game by having a 10-run second inning for a 14-0 lead. In the bottom of the fourth inning, FHS added one final run.
Fairfield totaled 17 hits in the win, as White, Lauren Arnold and Taylor Lawson each collected three-hit days. White finished 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBI. Arnold was a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs and three RBI. Also for FHS, Lawson was 3-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
Layla Hattan finished 2-for-2 with two runs and one RBI. Hayleigh Lowe was 2-for-3 with one run and two RBI. Teammate Molly Thackston ended the game at 2-for-3 with one run.
Having one hit each were Megan Gragg (one run, one RBI) and Harley Flint (one RBI). Also for the Lady Lions, Lyndee Spargur scored two runs and had two RBI. Halle Hamilton finished with one run scored and one RBI.
For the game, WHS committed three errors and FHS had one. The loss went to Brooklyn Gross, and also pitching in relief was Ann Ames. Ames finished with three strikeouts against 11 batters faced.
Seniors celebrated before and after the game for the Lady Lions were Kaiti White, Lauren Arnold, Hayleigh Lowe, Lyndee Spargur and Megan Gragg.
“Kaiti has been a workhorse for us the past four years in the circle, and she leads the team in about every offensive category,” Dettwiller said. “She is just one heck of an athlete. Lauren has been our catcher the past two years, and the two previous years before that she played third base for us. She very quietly gets it done. You never hear a word out of her, and all of a sudden she hits two or three off the bus garage, and she’s just a good ball player.
“Lyndee is a phenomenal team leader, and she also quietly gets it done. She’s a four-year starter at first base, and she’s had years where she’s had no errors, and for a first baseman, that doesn’t happen much.
“Hayleigh Lowe for the past three years has been Kaiti’s wheels, and she’s always been a pinch runner for her, but this year she moved to left field and she competed for the spot and earned it. Megan, our centerfielder, is one of the best outfielders around that I’ve seen in the district. She bats second in the order this year and has really produced. I’m super proud of all five of them.”