Fairfield advances to district finals

The day after Fairfield won the Southern Hills Athletic Conference Division II championship in walk-off fashion, the Lady Lions found themselves in another classic softball game.  

Fairfield (18-6, 12-1 SHAC) began the tournament season Thursday afternoon against the Lucasville Valley Lady Indians (12-17, 7-3 SOC III) in a game that was rained out on Tuesday.   

As they have done all season long, the Lady Lions continued to play well in close games, and Thursday was no exception, as FHS defeated Valley, 2-1 to advance to the district finals on Friday. 

Fairfield’s Rilee Quickle pitched another great game, having a no-hitter through the first 4.2 innings, but Valley's Karsyn Dalton singled down the right field foul line with two outs in the top of the fifth inning for a hit.

At the plate, Quickle led off the bottom of the first inning with a wind-blown triple to deep centerfield that tipped off the glove of the centerfielder. Ally Maynard then stepped to the plate and hit a hard line drive right at the centerfielder for a sacrifice fly, scoring Quickle and giving the Lady Lions an early 1-0 lead.

Fairfield later put runners on the bases in the third, fourth and fifth innings, but failed to score.  

With two outs in the third inning, Quickle doubled down the left field line. Kelsie Crowder singled in the fourth inning, but was left on base. Jorgia Smith singled to right field to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning and stole second base, but again Valley’s Christman retired the next three batters in order.

Lucasville Valley tied the score 1-1 with a run in the top of the sixth inning. With one out, Emilie Barr doubled to left centerfield. Braxtyn Holbrook followed with an infield single to the left side that advanced Barr to third base. Holbrook stole second base, putting both runners in scoring position.  

Zoe Wolfe laid down a bunt single to load the bases with one out. Addison Wolfe followed with a fly ball to the outfield that was dropped for an error that scored Barr to tie the score.  

The fly ball would have been a sacrifice fly without the error, but with the bases still loaded and one out, Quickle showed why she is one of the top pitchers in the Southeast District. She enticed Carpenter to fly out to first baseman Smith and retired Spriggs with a ground ball back to the circle to leave the bases loaded.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth inning, Fairfield’s senior captain Jobey Hattan singled up the middle and stole second base. Fairfield’s other senior captain Carly Sanders stepped to the plate, now with two outs, with Hattan still standing on second base. 

Sanders drove an outside pitch to the fence in right field for a double, scoring Hattan and giving the Lady Lions a 2-1 lead.

Quickle and the Lady Lion defense took the field in the top of the seventh inning with a one run lead.  

Third baseman Alyssa Bales made a good play on a hard-hit ground ball and threw a strike to first baseman Smith for the first out. Second baseman Crowder made the defensive play of the game with a diving stop of a ground ball up the middle and a quick throw from her knees for the second out of the inning, but Valley’s Christman doubled to the fence in in right field.  

With the tying run in scoring position, Quickle got a fly ball off the bat of Emilie Barr that right fielder Whitlee Morrow caught for the third out, sending the Lady Lions to the district finals. 

Leading hitters for the Lady Lions: Quickle (2-for-3, double, 1 run), Maynard (sac fly), Hattan (1-for-3, 1 run), Sanders (1-for-3, double, 1 RBI), Crowder (1-for-3), and Smith (1-for-2).     

Quickle (18-4) was the winning pitcher for Fairfield going seven innings, allowing five hits, one earned run, two walks and she collected five strikeouts. 

Christian suffered the loss for Valley, going seven innings, allowing six hits, two earned runs, no walks and totaling 12 strikeouts.      

The Lady Lions now advance to the Southeast District Finals on Friday, May 23 at Unioto High School. Game time is slated for 4 p.m. Fairfield will face a familiar opponent in Portsmouth West High.

Fairfield has played in the Southeast District finals 17 times.