Fairfield Lady Lions begin season with DH split against Clinton-Massie; walkoff in Game 2

LEESBURG — Saturday afternoon saw the start of another season of softball for the Fairfield Lady Lions as they split their 2026 Opening Day doubleheader against the visiting Clinton-Massie Lady Falcons at Fairfield High School. 

Fairfield lost the first game against the Lady Falcons by a score of 17-4, but in the second game of the twin bill they won via a walkoff in extra innings for an 8-7 win. 

In game two of the doubleheader, Clinton-Massie began with a one-run first inning, then followed with three runs in the second inning, plus they added another two runs in the top of the third for a 6-0 lead after three innings. 

That was OK for Fairfield because there was still a lot of softball yet to be played, as the Lady Lions held CMHS scoreless in the top of the fourth, then in their half of the fourth at the plate, the Lady Lions scored three runs, and in the bottom of the fifth FHS tied the score at 6-6 with another three-run inning. 

The two teams stayed scoreless in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, but in the top of the ninth the Lady Falcons regained the lead with one run for a 7-6 lead. 

Fairfield came back and won the game with two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, walking off for the win. The game-winning sequence started with a one-out single to left field by Kelsie Crowder, followed by Crowder advancing to third base off a base hit to left field by Alyssa Bales. 

Still with one out, Jorgia Smith hit a single with a 0-1 count to left field, scoring both Smith and Bales for Fairfield’s first victory of the season. Smith ended the game 4-for-5 with two RBI, a double and one steal. 

In game two, the Lady Lions totaled 13 hits and committed no errors, while CMHS had 16 hits and four errors. 

FHS also had Bales end the game at 2-for-5 with two runs, a double, one RBI and a steal. Avery Morrow finished 2-for-3 with one RBI, one walk and a steal. Rilee Quickle was 2-for-5 with two runs and a steal. 

Crowder went 1-for-3 with a run, two RBI and two sacrifice flies. Ally Maynard was 1-for-4 with two runs, one RBI, one walk and she had one steal. Whitlee Morrow finished 1-for-5 with one run and a steal. Ava White was 1-for-4.

Maynard — a junior — was the winning pitcher, going all nine innings in the circle with six runs (all earned) on 15 hits and no walks with two strikeouts. 

The win puts the Lady Lions at 1-1 overall. 

GAME 2 BOX SCORE
CMHS        132 000 001 — 7 16 4 
FHS           000 330 002 — 8 13 0 

Game one of the doubleheader to start the season saw Fairfield fall by a 17-4 score at FHS. In the season opener, CMHS jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the first inning, and followed that with a run in the top of the third, four runs in the fourth inning, three runs in the fifth and the game ended in the sixth inning as CMHS added four more runs. 

Fairfield scored one run in the bottom of the second and three runs in the third. In all, CMHS totaled 22 hits and committed two errors in the first game, while FHS had seven hits and committed five errors. 

Seven Fairfield players had one hit each, and they were Alyssa Bales, Kelsie Crowder (one run, one RBI), Ally Maynard (one run, a double, one steal), Avery Morrow, Whitlee Morrow (one run), Rilee Quickle (one run, a double), and Jorgia Smith. 

Quickle was charged with the loss in the circle, pitching six innings.

GAME 1 BOX SCORE
CMHS        501 434 x — 17 22 2 
FHS           013 000 x  — 4 7 5