Lady Lions continue to district semifinals
Lead Summary
By
The Highland County Press-
Heavy rains Friday night forced a change of venue for the Fairfield Lady Lions' sectional final game Saturday afternoon, as the game was moved to Greenfield, but the result was the same for FHS when it came to postseason sectional play, defeating Green, 8-5, for their 27th sectional final victory.
FHS, the No. 3 seed, played one of their best all-around games of the season Saturday, according to the coaching staff, saying it was a total team effort.
FHS improved to 13-10 overall, while the loss dropped Green to 13-15.
The Lady Lions hit with power, ran the bases aggressively, received solid pitching from both pitchers and played solid defense as they won for the 12th straight year in the finals of the sectionals.
In a change of the batting order, Halie Chain, the usual cleanup hitter for the Lady Lions, was moved to lead-off and proved the change correct, finishing 2-for-3 with a walk. Each time, Shaylee Carson came off the bench as a courtesy runner for Chain, and she scored two runs.[[In-content Ad]]
In the first inning, FHS starter Arica Melson battled through some adversity with GHS loading the bases, striking out the next batter to end the inning and leaving the bases full.
Chain jump-started the Lady Lion offense with a double to the fence in centerfield to lead off the Lions' first. Carson, the courtesy runner, moved to second off an infield slap hit by Grace Larrick (3-for-3, two runs, one RBI) to the left side of the infield.
Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch, and Shelby Smithson followed by being walked intentionally. Heather Sanderson (2-for-4, double, four RBIs) blasted a bases-clearing double to the fence in right field to give her team an early 3-0 lead.
GHS threatened in the top of the second inning, but the defense and pitching of FHS, again, held the visiting Lady Bobcats scoreless.
With one out in the bottom of the second inning, Courtney Huff drew a walk, and Kaitlin Evans was safe on a bunt single as Huff raced to third base. Chain followed with a single to right field to score Huff, with Evans advancing to third. Carson, the courtesy runner for Chain, went to second when Larrick was safe on an infield single, scoring Evans. Carson later scored on a wild pitch for a six-run lead after two innings.
FHS hit a rough spot with GHS scoring one run in the third, and the pitching of GHS starter Micah Lewis settled down to shutout the Lady Lions in the third, fourth and fifth innings.
In the top of the fourth, the Lady Bobcats scored four runs to close the score to 6-5.
Mikayla Coleman, pitching in relief for FHS, pitched a scoreless fifth to keep the lead.
Melson returned to the circle to pitch the sixth inning to face the middle of the Lady Bobcat batting order. In the inning, Cynnamon Sova-Davy made a catch at the fence in right-centerfield, robbing GHS of an extra base hit.
FHS added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, starting with a one-out walk by Larrick. Smithson singled to centerfield, and Sanderson followed with a single to right field to drive in Larrick, her fourth RBI of the game. Sova-Davy grounded out to the shortstop to drive in Smithson.
Melson (13-7) picked up the win for Fairfield. She pitched 4.2 innings, allowing one earned run on four hits and five walks. She struck out four.
The Fairfield Lady Lions play the Eastern Meigs Lady Eagles, the No. 2 seed, in the SE District semifinals at Minford High School on Thursday, May 23 at 6 p.m.
FHS, the No. 3 seed, played one of their best all-around games of the season Saturday, according to the coaching staff, saying it was a total team effort.
FHS improved to 13-10 overall, while the loss dropped Green to 13-15.
The Lady Lions hit with power, ran the bases aggressively, received solid pitching from both pitchers and played solid defense as they won for the 12th straight year in the finals of the sectionals.
In a change of the batting order, Halie Chain, the usual cleanup hitter for the Lady Lions, was moved to lead-off and proved the change correct, finishing 2-for-3 with a walk. Each time, Shaylee Carson came off the bench as a courtesy runner for Chain, and she scored two runs.[[In-content Ad]]
In the first inning, FHS starter Arica Melson battled through some adversity with GHS loading the bases, striking out the next batter to end the inning and leaving the bases full.
Chain jump-started the Lady Lion offense with a double to the fence in centerfield to lead off the Lions' first. Carson, the courtesy runner, moved to second off an infield slap hit by Grace Larrick (3-for-3, two runs, one RBI) to the left side of the infield.
Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch, and Shelby Smithson followed by being walked intentionally. Heather Sanderson (2-for-4, double, four RBIs) blasted a bases-clearing double to the fence in right field to give her team an early 3-0 lead.
GHS threatened in the top of the second inning, but the defense and pitching of FHS, again, held the visiting Lady Bobcats scoreless.
With one out in the bottom of the second inning, Courtney Huff drew a walk, and Kaitlin Evans was safe on a bunt single as Huff raced to third base. Chain followed with a single to right field to score Huff, with Evans advancing to third. Carson, the courtesy runner for Chain, went to second when Larrick was safe on an infield single, scoring Evans. Carson later scored on a wild pitch for a six-run lead after two innings.
FHS hit a rough spot with GHS scoring one run in the third, and the pitching of GHS starter Micah Lewis settled down to shutout the Lady Lions in the third, fourth and fifth innings.
In the top of the fourth, the Lady Bobcats scored four runs to close the score to 6-5.
Mikayla Coleman, pitching in relief for FHS, pitched a scoreless fifth to keep the lead.
Melson returned to the circle to pitch the sixth inning to face the middle of the Lady Bobcat batting order. In the inning, Cynnamon Sova-Davy made a catch at the fence in right-centerfield, robbing GHS of an extra base hit.
FHS added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, starting with a one-out walk by Larrick. Smithson singled to centerfield, and Sanderson followed with a single to right field to drive in Larrick, her fourth RBI of the game. Sova-Davy grounded out to the shortstop to drive in Smithson.
Melson (13-7) picked up the win for Fairfield. She pitched 4.2 innings, allowing one earned run on four hits and five walks. She struck out four.
The Fairfield Lady Lions play the Eastern Meigs Lady Eagles, the No. 2 seed, in the SE District semifinals at Minford High School on Thursday, May 23 at 6 p.m.