Lady 'Cats advance; send Tornadoes into a whirlwind

MINFORD — The Whiteoak Lady Wildcats and the Southern Tornadoes faced each other in a Division IV SE District Semifinal game between two conference champions, but it was the Lady 'Cats who avoided the Tornadoes, instead sending them into a whirlwind on the diamond Thursday night.

The champions of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference Division II, Whiteoak set the tone very early with a Kiley Sosby lead-off home run and from there avoided any natural disasters by defeating the Tornadoes of Southern, 8-0 to move on to the District Finals.

Whiteoak (22-2) will face the No. 4 seeded Clay Lady Panthers Saturday at Minford High School at 1 p.m., as they will be the second game of the day. Clay defeated Eastern (Reedsville) 7-5, Thursday, who were the No. 1 seed of the Minford 2 district.

"For the most part, the girls played well," WHS head coach Trisha Hauke said. "They came out ready to play, they wanted it and you could tell they wanted it.

"Our district final game, we expect another tough game, and it will be a good competitive game."

The Lady 'Cats did what they needed to do to take down the champions of the Tri-Valley Conference, beginning with the home run to left-center field by Sosby to begin the bottom of the first inning.

That home run was the first of nine hits and nine walks compiled by the Lady 'Cats on the day. Sosby ended the game 1-for-1 with three walks.

Though the first ended with an unassisted double play by the Tornadoes, the Lady 'Cats didn't budge, adding a second run in their half of the second with Ashlyn Moore taking first on a base hit to left-center field and scoring on a clutch two-out double hit near the same spot by Jaycie Parr to make it a 2-0 score.

Five more runs were added in the third by the No. 2 seeded Whiteoak squad. Alexis Jones began the inning by forcing a full-count walk, and with one out, Chelsea Chisman hit an infield single. A walk by Moore loaded the bases, and Courtney Gross was there to empty the bases with a one-out triple for three RBIs, hitting the ball to left-centerfield on a 1-0 count.

From there, Hayley Nace also drew a walk on a full-count, and Sosby wasn't given much to swing at , walking on five pitches. After the second out of the inning was recorded, Ashleigh Harless batted in Gross (beating the throw home in a play at the plate), then on the ensuing at-bat, Jones knocked in Nace for the 7-0 lead. Jones finished 1-for-2 with two walks.

The final WHS run came in the bottom of the sixth inning with Jones (who walked) rounding the bases off a double to center field by Jayde Parr on a 1-2 count with no outs. Parr finished 2-for-4.

Besides the offense of the Lady 'Cats, Sosby had yet another solid day from the pitching circle. In seven innings, the senior allowed no runs on six hits and no walks. She finished up the win with 12 strikeouts, striking out the side in the second and seventh innings.

Sosby threw 93 pitches, 79 for strikes.

"I was told before the game they (SHS) would bunt a lot, and that's what we've anticipated and practiced for," Hauke said. "The girls knew exactly what to do in every situation, so they came out and did what was expected of them."