Lady Lions blank Miami Trace in the rain
Lead Summary
By
The Highland County Press-
LEESBURG — For the second consecutive year, the Fairfield Lady Lions Invitational Tournament was rained out after the first round of games were decided, but that didn't stop the Lady Lions from gaining a shutout win against the Miami Trace Lady Panthers, 12-0 Saturday morning at FHS.
The Fairfield Lady Lions (7-0, 9-5) were dominant Saturday, using great pitching, great defense and a powerful offense, according to assistant coach Tom Purtell.
With the victory, the Lady Lions extended their winning streak to four games, outscoring their opponents 52-5 this past week.
"Lauren Larrick had her best pitching performance of the season," Purtell said. "She had great movement on her pitches, had great location and kept Miami Trace off-balance all through the game."
The win was Larrick's fourth shutout of the season on just one hit. Larrick (9-4) pitched five innings with no walks and nine strikeouts.
The Lady Lion offense recorded double-digit hits for the eighth time this season, pounding out 11 hits against MT.
Cynnamon Sova-Davy hit a three-run home run, but standing out among all players game was Courtney Huff. Huff is batting .700 over the last three games. Against MT, Huff hit two home runs including a grand slam, and a double, while collecting six RBIs.
Larrick dominated the game on the mound. The senior pitcher struck out the leadoff batter for Miami Trace in the top of the first inning. The second hitter reached base on the only Lady Lion error of the game, and then Larrick struck out the next five consecutive Lady Panther batters.
FHS scored the only run they would need in the bottom of the first inning.
Huff led off the inning with a home run over the left-centerfield fence. Shelby Smithson followed with a frozen rope to left field for a single. Whitney Hanenkrat doubled to left field, scoring Smithson, putting FHS ahead 2-0 after the first inning.
FHS scored six runs in the bottom of the third inning.
[[In-content Ad]]Smithson led off the inning with a line drive single to left field. Hanenkrat singled to short centerfield, advancing Smithson to second base. Larrick laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving Smithson to third and Hanenkrat to second. Sirenity Smith singled up the middle to drive in both runners.
Halie Chain was safe on an error, moving Smith to third base. Sova-Davy launched a ball deep over the left field fence for a three-run home run.
With two outs, Kaitlin Evans singled to left field, and Huff doubled to the gap in right centerfield. Evans, running hard from first base, ran through a stop sign from the third base coach and slid head first into home plate just ahead of the tag.
MT recorded their only hit in the top of the fifth inning, a double over the bag at third base with two outs by Sydney Grooms. Larrick struck out the next batter to end the inning.
FHS loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth inning with the score 8-0. Huff ended the game early, blasting a grand slam over the left field fence.
Leading hitters for the Lady Lions included: Huff (3-for-4, two home runs, two runs, six RBIs), Smithson (2-for-3, two runs), Hanenkrat (2-for-3, double, one run, one RBI), Evans (2-for-3, one run), Smith (1-for-3, one run, two RBIs) and Sova-Davy (1-for-2, home run, two runs, three RBIs).
The loss drops MT to 6-7 overall, and they are 4-2 in the South Central Ohio League standings.
The Fairfield Lady Lions will travel to Fayetteville on Tuesday to play the Fayetteville Lady Rockets at 5 p.m.
BOX SCORE
MT 000 00 — 0 1 3
FHS 206 04 — 12 11 1
The Fairfield Lady Lions (7-0, 9-5) were dominant Saturday, using great pitching, great defense and a powerful offense, according to assistant coach Tom Purtell.
With the victory, the Lady Lions extended their winning streak to four games, outscoring their opponents 52-5 this past week.
"Lauren Larrick had her best pitching performance of the season," Purtell said. "She had great movement on her pitches, had great location and kept Miami Trace off-balance all through the game."
The win was Larrick's fourth shutout of the season on just one hit. Larrick (9-4) pitched five innings with no walks and nine strikeouts.
The Lady Lion offense recorded double-digit hits for the eighth time this season, pounding out 11 hits against MT.
Cynnamon Sova-Davy hit a three-run home run, but standing out among all players game was Courtney Huff. Huff is batting .700 over the last three games. Against MT, Huff hit two home runs including a grand slam, and a double, while collecting six RBIs.
Larrick dominated the game on the mound. The senior pitcher struck out the leadoff batter for Miami Trace in the top of the first inning. The second hitter reached base on the only Lady Lion error of the game, and then Larrick struck out the next five consecutive Lady Panther batters.
FHS scored the only run they would need in the bottom of the first inning.
Huff led off the inning with a home run over the left-centerfield fence. Shelby Smithson followed with a frozen rope to left field for a single. Whitney Hanenkrat doubled to left field, scoring Smithson, putting FHS ahead 2-0 after the first inning.
FHS scored six runs in the bottom of the third inning.
[[In-content Ad]]Smithson led off the inning with a line drive single to left field. Hanenkrat singled to short centerfield, advancing Smithson to second base. Larrick laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving Smithson to third and Hanenkrat to second. Sirenity Smith singled up the middle to drive in both runners.
Halie Chain was safe on an error, moving Smith to third base. Sova-Davy launched a ball deep over the left field fence for a three-run home run.
With two outs, Kaitlin Evans singled to left field, and Huff doubled to the gap in right centerfield. Evans, running hard from first base, ran through a stop sign from the third base coach and slid head first into home plate just ahead of the tag.
MT recorded their only hit in the top of the fifth inning, a double over the bag at third base with two outs by Sydney Grooms. Larrick struck out the next batter to end the inning.
FHS loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth inning with the score 8-0. Huff ended the game early, blasting a grand slam over the left field fence.
Leading hitters for the Lady Lions included: Huff (3-for-4, two home runs, two runs, six RBIs), Smithson (2-for-3, two runs), Hanenkrat (2-for-3, double, one run, one RBI), Evans (2-for-3, one run), Smith (1-for-3, one run, two RBIs) and Sova-Davy (1-for-2, home run, two runs, three RBIs).
The loss drops MT to 6-7 overall, and they are 4-2 in the South Central Ohio League standings.
The Fairfield Lady Lions will travel to Fayetteville on Tuesday to play the Fayetteville Lady Rockets at 5 p.m.
BOX SCORE
MT 000 00 — 0 1 3
FHS 206 04 — 12 11 1