Fairfield takes home SHAC win against Lynchburg-Clay

DODSONVILLE — Playing their annual battle in Southern Hills Athletic Conference competition on Tuesday evening (March 31), it was the visiting Fairfield Lady Lions gaining the 2-1 win with the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh inning against host and rival Lynchburg-Clay.

Both teams were champions of the SHAC in Division I (LCHS) and Division II (FHS) last season, and this game lived up to that success and more. There was also a battle between two All-Ohio pitchers from last season with seniors Rilee Quickle (FHS) and Noel Barnhill (LCHS), as the two pitchers combined for 10 hits allowed, 20 strikeouts, two earned runs and one walk. 

Quickle was the winning pitcher, as she went all seven innings in the circle with no earned runs allowed on six hits and one walk with 13 strikeouts as she faced 29 batters. Barnhill had the tough-luck loss, also pitching seven strong innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits and no walks with seven strikeouts, as she faced 25 batters. 

"We talked to the team about her (Quickle's) body language, and even though she's this tall, she's very intimidating because knows how good she is and knows she can hit her spots, and knew she was on a roll with this team tonight, and she had a very good performance on her part," Fairfield head coach Ellen Binegar said.

The Lady Mustangs struck first on the scoreboard with their lone run coming in bottom of the fifth with Aubrey Roberts leading off by taking first on an infield error. 

Next was a sacrifice bunt to and a strikeout for two outs, but then came Kami Collins to the plate, and she knocked the ball to left field for an RBI, scoring Roberts from third base and giving LCHS a 1-0 lead. 

Fairfield tied the score at 1-1 in the top of the sixth inning as Ava White led off by taking frost base with a single. Then it was time for small ball by the Lady Lions, manufacturing a run with a sacrifice bunt by Jorja May, moving White to second base. Then came more pressure by the Fairfield squad, as White scored a run on an infield error, which tied the score. 

In the top of the seventh inning, Ally Maynard led off with a double for Fairfield and then scored by taking third base on a two-out single by Jorgia Smith, then scoring on a wild pitch for the 2-1 lead. 

Lynchburg-Clay in the bottom of the seventh inning Barnhill hit a one-out double landing in centerfield, and she went to third base on a passed ball. After the second out was recorded with a strikeout thrown by Quickle, an intentional walk was made to Roberts, and then came the final out of the game with a called third strike. 

"We are becoming famous for these one-run wins," Binegar said. "The two pitchers really battled it out, both are top-tier, All-Ohio pitchers, and I think we had the confidence on our side. We knew we were mentally tough coming into this game, and we are pretty famous for going deep into games before we get things going.

"We started to manufacture some things, mix it up a little bit and we put the bat on the ball when it counted."

Fairfield’s four total hits were off the bats of Morrow, Maynard, Smith and White. Morrow finished 1-for-3 with one RBI. Maynard was 1-for-3 with one run, while Smith went 1-for-3, and White was 1-for-2 with one run. 

Lynchburg-Clay’s six hits saw Jazmine Brown finish 2-for-4 and Collins go 2-for-3 with an RBI. Barnhill was 1-for-3, and Roberts was 1-for-2 with a walk (intentional) and one run. 

"Our bunting was much better in this game," Binegar said. "We've struggled getting it fair the last few games, and this is the first game we've gotten fair balls when we needed them on the bunts. The energy in the dugout was great, they were cool and calm on the field, and even when things weren't going their way ... in the past we've gotten down on ourselves, but we knew going into this game it was going to be close."

The win moved Fairfield to 4-2 overall with a SHAC mark of 1-0. Lynchburg-Clay now stands at 0-1 in the SHAC and 2-2 overall.

BOX SCORE
FHS       000 001 1 — 2 4 2 
LCHS    000 001 0 — 1 6 2