McMullen’s walk-off sends Whiteoak to win over Fairfield 

The Whiteoak Lady Wildcats (4-4, 3-2 SHAC) defeated the Fairfield Lady Lions (6-4, 3-2 SHAC) 8-7 in walkoff fashion Thursday as Molly McMullen singled Jaylie Parr home for the Southern Hills Athletic Conference victory at WHS.

Fairfield scored first in the top of the first inning to take an early lead. Beginning with one out, Rilee Quickle singled to left field and Jobey Hattan walked. Both Quickle and Hattan pulled off a double steal, and one out later, senior Faith Miller blasted a home run over the left field fence to give the Lady Lions a 3-0 advantage.

The Lady Lions added three more runs in the top of the second inning as Katelyn Chambliss doubled to lead off the inning and Gwen Cox entered the game as a courtesy runner for Chambliss. 

Carly Sanders laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Cox to third base, and Jaylie Duncan hit a ground ball to the left side of the infield for a fielder’s choice as Cox slid in at home plate ahead of the tag and Duncan moved to second base. 

With two outs, Rilee Quickle singled to centerfield and an errant throw back to the pitcher allowed Duncan to score and Quickle advanced to second base. Hattan singled to centerfield to score Rilee Quickle.

Whiteoak took advantage of a Fairfield error to score three unearned runs to make the score 6-3. In the inning, Mattie Conrad doubled, Lilly Leston was safe on an error, Molly McMullen singled and Bri Hill doubled.

The Lady Lions failed to score in the fourth and fifth innings as the Lady Wildcats scored four runs to take a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Mattie Conrad singled, Jaylie Parr was safe on an error, Molly McMullen singled, and Bri Hill doubled with the bases loaded to drive in three runs and later score on a throwing error.

After a scoreless sixth inning by both teams, Fairfield came to the plate having to score a run to extend the game. With two outs and no one on base, Hattan singled and promptly stole second base. Hattan advanced to third base on an error and score on a wild pitch to tie the score 7-7.

Parr reached first base on a dropped third strike to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning. Parr stole second base and third base and scored on a single to right field by Molly McMullen to give the Lady Wildcats the victory.

Leading hitters for the Fairfield Lady Lions: Rilee Quickle (3-for-4, walk, 2 runs, 1 RBI), Jobey Hattan (2-for-3, walk, 2 runs, 1 RBI), Faith Miller (1-for-3, home run, 1 run, 3 RBI), Katelyn Chambliss (1-for-3, double, 1 run, 1 RBI) and Jaylie Duncan (0-for-3, 1 run, 1 RBI).

Leading hitters for Whiteoak: Molly McMullen (3-for-3, 2 runs, 2 RBI), Bri Hill (3-for-3, 2 doubles, 1 run, 4 RBI) and Mattie Conrad (2-for-3, double, 2 runs).

Chambliss (6-4) suffered the loss for Fairfield. She pitched six innings, allowing eight runs (two earned) on eight hits and two walks, while totaling eight strikeouts.

Hill (4-2) was the winning pitcher for Whiteoak, pitching seven innings, and allowing seven runs (six earned) on seven hits and one walk, while finishing with 12 strikeouts.