Lady Lions earn extra-inning win over Peebles; fall to Westfall, Eastern
The Fairfield Lady Lions entered their Southern Hills Athletic Conference game in first place in Division I, while the Peebles Lady Indians sat in the middle of Division II of the SHAC standings.
But when the two softball teams meet, records don’t matter, and this game at Fairfield High School in Leesburg was another hard-fought, back and forth slugfest between two heavy-hitting softball teams.
Both teams had 16 hits on the afternoon, and it took extra innings to decide this game as the Lady Lions defeated Peebles, 12-11.
Peebles set the tone for the game from the very first batter when Kaelyn Musser led off the game with single to left field and Lily McFarland belted a home run over the left field fence. Caydence Carroll was safe on an error and later scored on a base hit to left field by Darby Mills as Peebles tok a 3-0 lead.
Fairfield manufactured a run in the bottom of the first inning, turning a leadoff walk by Sydney Hooper into a run on no hits in the inning.
Peebles scored two more runs in the top of the second inning to take a 5-1 lead. The Lady Lions’ offense answered with three runs in the bottom of the second inning, starting with one out. Emmi Vance doubled, Katelyn Chambliss walked and Carly Sanders walked to load the bases.
Addison Bales followed with a double off the right-centerfield fence driving in Vance and Chambliss as Sanders raced to third base. Hooper scored Sanders on a sacrifice fly to left field to make the score 5-4.
Fairfield starting pitcher Rilee Quickle blanked the Lady Indians in the third, fourth and fifth innings, as Fairfield added three runs in the bottom of the third inning and two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.
In the third inning, Jobey Hattan doubled, Sydney Sanders singled, Faith Miller drove in a run with bunt single and Vance completed the scoring with a double.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Chambliss singled with two outs, and Gwen Cox came off the bench to run for Chambliss. Carly Sanders walked, and Bales doubled to the gap in right-centerfield, driving in both runners and giving the Lady Lions a 9-5 lead.
Again, Peebles scored a run in the top of the sixth inning, then erupted for five runs in the top of the seventh inning, giving Peebles a 11-9 lead heading into Fairfield’s final at-bat.
The Lady Lions never give up, and with one out and no one on base, Vance drew a walk and Chambliss followed with a single to advance Vance to second base. Carly Sanders hit a ground ball to the second baseman that forced Chambliss at second base as Vance went to third base.
Vance scored on a wild pitch as Carly Sanders raced to third base. Bales tied the game 11-11 with an infield single.
Chambliss in relief of Quickle gave up a walk to Ashlynn Abbott in the top of the eighth inning, and a single to Kylie Shumacher to put runners on first base and third base with one out. Chambliss then struck out the lead off batter and got out of the inning with no runs on a groundout to first baseman Carly Sanders.
The Lady Lions would not be denied in the bottom of the extra inning. Quickle doubled to lead off the inning, Hattan drew an intentional walk and Sydney Sanders followed with an infield single to load the bases.
Miller walked off the victory with an infield single as Quickle raced home ahead of the throw to the plate.
Leading hitters for the Fairfield Lady Lions: Hooper (1-for-3, sac fly, walk, one run, one RBI), Quickle (2-for-4, double, SAC bunt, one run), Hattan (2-for-4, double, one run), Sydney Sanders (2-for-5, one run), Miller (2-for-5, one run, two RBI), Vance (2-for-3, two doubles, two runs, one RBI), Chambliss (2-for-4, one run), Carly Sanders (three runs) and Bales (3-for-4, two doubles, five RBI).
Chambliss (7-4) was the winning pitcher in relief of Quickle for Fairfield. Chambliss’ pitching line included 1.3 innings, one hit, no runs, no earned runs, one walk, and one strikeout. Quickle’s pitching line: 6.6 innings, 15 hits, 11 runs, 10 earned runs, five walks, four strikeouts).
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The Fairfield Lady Lions (10-6, 7-2 SHAC) fell to the Westfall Lady Mustangs (10-7, 4-3 SVC) 22-7 in a non-conference softball game played this afternoon at Fairfield High School in Leesburg.
Westfall scored 22 runs on 20 hits including six for extra bases and took advantage of seven errors by the Fairfield defense en route to the lopsided victory.
Westfall jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the third inning, but the Lady Lions scored three runs in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, Bales ripped a double down the left field line. An out later, Quickle doubled to left field to score Bales. Hattan then hit a towering home run over the centerfield fence to make the score 5-3 after three innings.
Fairfield scored four more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Carly Sanders singled to lead off the inning and Bales reached on a base on balls advancing Sanders to second base.
One out later, Quickle doubled to drive in Sanders and Bales. Hattan reached first base on a fielder’s choice. Sydney Sanders doubled to right-centerfield to drive in Quickle and Hattan.
Leading hitters for the Fairfield Lady Lions: Quickle (2-for-3, two doubles, two runs, three RBI), Hattan (2-for-3, home run, two runs, two RBI), Sydney Sanders (1-for-3, two RBI), Miller (1-for-3), Vance (1-for-3), Carly Sanders (1-for-3), and Bales (1-for-2, double, two runs).
Chambliss (7-5) suffered the loss for Fairfield.
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The Fairfield Lady Lions (10-7, 7-3 SHAC) returned to Southern Hills Athletic Conference play as they hosted the Eastern Brown Lady Warriors (11-7, 7-4 SHAC) at Fairfield High School in Leesburg on Tuesday, May 2.
It has been a very competitive season for Southern Hills Athletic Conference softball as Fairfield entered Tuesday’s game in first place in Division I of the conference with a two-game lead in the loss column over Lynchburg-Clay and Eastern Brown.
Fairfield is seeking their 24th conference title and seventh consecutive championship, as both teams played errorless softball Tuesday, but Eastern Brown scored nine runs on 13 hits to defeat Fairfield 9-2.
Fairfield pitcher Quickle retired the first six Eastern batters in order in the first two innings. Fairfield took an early 1-0 lead with a run in the first inning on a double by Hattan and an RBI single to centerfield by Sydney Sanders.
FHS increased their lead to 2-0 with another run in the bottom of the second inning, and with two outs and no one on base, Carly Sanders doubled down the third base line and Bales singled to centerfield.
Eastern’s Addi Arey hit solo home run in the top of the third inning to make the score 2-1. The Lady Warriors took the lead at 3-2 with two more runs in the top of the fourth inning.
The Lady Lions continued to hit the ball hard in the remaining innings but right at Eastern defenders. Meanwhile the Lady Warriors added five runs in the top of the fifth inning and another run in the top of the sixth inning to complete the scoring.
Leading hitters for the Fairfield Lady Lions were: Hooper (1-for-3), Hattan (1-for-3, double, one run), Sydney Sanders (1-for-3, one RBI), Carly Sanders (1-for-3, double, one run) and Bales (1-for-2, one. RBI).
Quickle (3-2) suffered the loss for Fairfield.