Lady 'Cats handed heartbreak in regional semifinals
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
PICKERINGTON — One inning. One run. That was the difference in continuing their season and seeing their season come to a close in the Division IV Regional Semifinals for the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats.
Sadly for the 20-plus win Lady 'Cats, the latter occurred when the Danville Lady Blue Devils took advantage of Whiteoak miscues in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Danville not only broke up a perfect game, but the Lady Blue Devils scored the walk-off run for the 1-0 defeat of Whiteoak, Thursday at Pickerington Central High School.
"This is a very tough loss," WHS head coach Trisha Hauke said. "This is more than coaching … it is about becoming a family with this team. It is hard because these kids became like my little siblings.
"Being here was our plan at the beginning of the year when it was too cold outside to practice. I emphasized to them how I believed they would be able to get this far. It is hard to get here and to lose, but they have to be proud of themselves. It would have been nice to continue to go further.
"It is hard to lose a game like this …"
For what was a tabbed for good reason as a pitcher's duel between Whiteoak senior Kiley Sosby and Danville sophomore Shanna Mickley, both pitchers brought their best with Sosby pitching perfect through six innings, and Mickley shutting out the Lady 'Cats.
In the bottom of the seventh, everything came unraveled for the "away" Lady 'Cats, beginning with Danville's Kari Lauderbaugh hitting a line drive underneath the glove of the WHS infielder, breaking up a perfect game bid by Sosby. This was the second consecutive postseason game where Sosby had a perfect game broken up in the seventh inning.
[[In-content Ad]]From there, Lauderbaugh went to second on a infield error by the Lady 'Cats on a bunt near home plate, and to third on a passed ball.
With runners on second and third (with no outs), Jordan Elliott sent the ball to left field for a sacrifice fly to score Lauderbaugh, sending the Lady Blue Jays to the regional finals.
As for the Lady 'Cats, the heartbreaking seventh inning ended their season at 23-3 overall, as they were the Southern Hills Athletic Conference Division II champions and the Minford 2 SE District champions, their first such title since the 2004 season.
Sosby in 6.1 innings pitched allowed one unearned run on one hit and no walks. She struck out 13 batters on 71 pitches (62 for strikes). For the season, it was a record-setting year for the senior ace. In just this year alone, the right-hander struck out a total of 355 batters and walked just two.
For her four-year career, the ace finished with 1,187 strikeouts, earning a Top 10 spot in the state record book. In '15, she pitched a total of seven no-hitters, with four of them being perfect games, also earning her a spot in the state record book.
On Thursday, Sosby struck out the first eight batters she faced in what amounted to the first three innings.
In the fourth, she had two more strikeouts, and in the fifth and sixth innings combined added three more strikeouts.
For this postseason (four games), Sosby struck out 51 batters and allowed no earned runs.
Even with the stellar, record-breaking pitching by Sosby, the Lady 'Cats at the plate and on the bases had some lost opportunities.
In the first two innings, the Lady 'Cats saw the third out of the inning recorded after being caught in a steal attempt of second base.
The fourth inning began with Sosby (who didn't strike out all season) singling to left field on a 2-2 count, but recorded what was the second out of the inning after being hit by the line drive off the bat of Alexis Jones.
In the previous at-bat, Ashleigh Harless was hit by a pitch, now giving WHS runners on first and second, but the inning was ended on a strikeout.
The fifth inning saw Jayde Parr take first on catcher's interference and went to second on a ground out during the second out of the inning. Parr was stranded with WHS striking out to end the inning.
WHS continued to reach the bases with Sosby doubling to left field on a 1-2 count with a line drive to left field past third base.
Sosby ended the game 2-for-3, and for the season with 36 hits, nine home runs, 22 RBIs and a .581 batting average. She was walked 28 times.
Again, like the previous inning, the Lady 'Cats left a runner at second with the next two outs being recorded on a fly ball to centerfield and a strikeout.
Parr took first base in the top of the seventh inning with one out off a base hit over the head of the Danville second baseman, with the ball landing in shallow right field.
Parr was eventually out at second base on a fielder's choice, and the third out of the inning was recorded via a strikeout, the 10th time WHS struck out in the game.
In all, WHS out-hit their opposition, 5-1, but left four runners on the bases.
With one hit each for WHS were Jaycie Parr, Jones and Jayde Parr. Jaycie Parr batted .487 in 76-at bats. She totaled 20 RBIs, 37 hits and 31 runs.
Mickley was the winning pitcher. The Danville sophomore pitched seven innings, and in that time frame allowed no runs on five hits and one walk. She struck out 10.
Seniors for WHS this year are Sosby, Jayde Parr, Caitlyn Arledge and Misty McClure.
"The seniors this year … we are going to feel their loss, especially pitching (Sosby) and catching (Jayde Parr)," Hauke said. "Everyone knows Kiley is the best pitcher around, and as much as we don't want to see her go, I'm sure all the other teams will be happy to see her go.
"Jayde Parr stepped up to the plate when we really needed her and did everything we asked her to do. Those two positions will be tough to fill.
"I told them all (the returning players) … as long as they work hard in the offseason, there is no doubt we can be back here."
Sadly for the 20-plus win Lady 'Cats, the latter occurred when the Danville Lady Blue Devils took advantage of Whiteoak miscues in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Danville not only broke up a perfect game, but the Lady Blue Devils scored the walk-off run for the 1-0 defeat of Whiteoak, Thursday at Pickerington Central High School.
"This is a very tough loss," WHS head coach Trisha Hauke said. "This is more than coaching … it is about becoming a family with this team. It is hard because these kids became like my little siblings.
"Being here was our plan at the beginning of the year when it was too cold outside to practice. I emphasized to them how I believed they would be able to get this far. It is hard to get here and to lose, but they have to be proud of themselves. It would have been nice to continue to go further.
"It is hard to lose a game like this …"
For what was a tabbed for good reason as a pitcher's duel between Whiteoak senior Kiley Sosby and Danville sophomore Shanna Mickley, both pitchers brought their best with Sosby pitching perfect through six innings, and Mickley shutting out the Lady 'Cats.
In the bottom of the seventh, everything came unraveled for the "away" Lady 'Cats, beginning with Danville's Kari Lauderbaugh hitting a line drive underneath the glove of the WHS infielder, breaking up a perfect game bid by Sosby. This was the second consecutive postseason game where Sosby had a perfect game broken up in the seventh inning.
[[In-content Ad]]From there, Lauderbaugh went to second on a infield error by the Lady 'Cats on a bunt near home plate, and to third on a passed ball.
With runners on second and third (with no outs), Jordan Elliott sent the ball to left field for a sacrifice fly to score Lauderbaugh, sending the Lady Blue Jays to the regional finals.
As for the Lady 'Cats, the heartbreaking seventh inning ended their season at 23-3 overall, as they were the Southern Hills Athletic Conference Division II champions and the Minford 2 SE District champions, their first such title since the 2004 season.
Sosby in 6.1 innings pitched allowed one unearned run on one hit and no walks. She struck out 13 batters on 71 pitches (62 for strikes). For the season, it was a record-setting year for the senior ace. In just this year alone, the right-hander struck out a total of 355 batters and walked just two.
For her four-year career, the ace finished with 1,187 strikeouts, earning a Top 10 spot in the state record book. In '15, she pitched a total of seven no-hitters, with four of them being perfect games, also earning her a spot in the state record book.
On Thursday, Sosby struck out the first eight batters she faced in what amounted to the first three innings.
In the fourth, she had two more strikeouts, and in the fifth and sixth innings combined added three more strikeouts.
For this postseason (four games), Sosby struck out 51 batters and allowed no earned runs.
Even with the stellar, record-breaking pitching by Sosby, the Lady 'Cats at the plate and on the bases had some lost opportunities.
In the first two innings, the Lady 'Cats saw the third out of the inning recorded after being caught in a steal attempt of second base.
The fourth inning began with Sosby (who didn't strike out all season) singling to left field on a 2-2 count, but recorded what was the second out of the inning after being hit by the line drive off the bat of Alexis Jones.
In the previous at-bat, Ashleigh Harless was hit by a pitch, now giving WHS runners on first and second, but the inning was ended on a strikeout.
The fifth inning saw Jayde Parr take first on catcher's interference and went to second on a ground out during the second out of the inning. Parr was stranded with WHS striking out to end the inning.
WHS continued to reach the bases with Sosby doubling to left field on a 1-2 count with a line drive to left field past third base.
Sosby ended the game 2-for-3, and for the season with 36 hits, nine home runs, 22 RBIs and a .581 batting average. She was walked 28 times.
Again, like the previous inning, the Lady 'Cats left a runner at second with the next two outs being recorded on a fly ball to centerfield and a strikeout.
Parr took first base in the top of the seventh inning with one out off a base hit over the head of the Danville second baseman, with the ball landing in shallow right field.
Parr was eventually out at second base on a fielder's choice, and the third out of the inning was recorded via a strikeout, the 10th time WHS struck out in the game.
In all, WHS out-hit their opposition, 5-1, but left four runners on the bases.
With one hit each for WHS were Jaycie Parr, Jones and Jayde Parr. Jaycie Parr batted .487 in 76-at bats. She totaled 20 RBIs, 37 hits and 31 runs.
Mickley was the winning pitcher. The Danville sophomore pitched seven innings, and in that time frame allowed no runs on five hits and one walk. She struck out 10.
Seniors for WHS this year are Sosby, Jayde Parr, Caitlyn Arledge and Misty McClure.
"The seniors this year … we are going to feel their loss, especially pitching (Sosby) and catching (Jayde Parr)," Hauke said. "Everyone knows Kiley is the best pitcher around, and as much as we don't want to see her go, I'm sure all the other teams will be happy to see her go.
"Jayde Parr stepped up to the plate when we really needed her and did everything we asked her to do. Those two positions will be tough to fill.
"I told them all (the returning players) … as long as they work hard in the offseason, there is no doubt we can be back here."