Lady Mustangs stunned in walk-off district tournament loss to Portsmouth West
LCHS senior Noel Barnhill is pictured at the plate in a game this month. (HCP Photo/Stephen Forsha)
The No. 6 seeded Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs held a two-run lead going to the bottom of the seventh against the No. 3 seeded Portsmouth West Lady Senators on Thursday evening.
The lead didn’t hold, as Portsmouth West rallied for a walk-off win by scoring three runs in the bottom of the inning for a 4-3 final score, ending the season of the Lady Mustangs at Unioto High School.
LCHS scored their three runs with one each in the top of the first, second and fifth innings. PWHS had a run in the bottom of the sixth and their final three runs in the bottom of the seventh.
The Lady Mustangs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first with Sadie Kuipers scoring a run off a two-out double hit to left field by Jazmine Brown.
Lynchburg-Clay’s lead went to two runs when Audrey Barry singled to centerfield, scoring Reese Ruble with two outs, as Ruble initially reached the bases on an error with two outs.
The LCHS lead increased to three runs when Kendra Doss hit a single to right field, scoring Noel Barnhill, as Barnhill hit a one-out double to reach the bases.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Senators hit a solo home run by Ally Buckner for the 3-1 score. The bottom of the seventh saw the inning start with two singles and a walk, followed by a run scored by PWHS when Aubree Hayslip scored a run.
The score was tied at 3-3 when Maleah Whitman scored a run off an error, and the game-winning walk off run came when Ally Hedge singled past the infield, scoring Ariane Jordan, who reached the bases with a walk.
LCHS totaled 11 hits and had three errors in the loss, while PWHS had six hits and four errors.
Barnhill and Doss each had three hits for LCHS, with Barnhill going 3-for-4 with one run and a double. Doss was 3-for-4 with one RBI.
Barry was 1-for-4 with an RBI. Teammate Kuipers was 1-for-4 with a run. Jazmine Brown went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a double. Sophia Michael went 1-for-3. Ruble scored one run.
Barnhill pitched six innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits and one walk with five strikeouts.
Lynchburg-Clay ends their season at 14-11 overall, and they were 9-4 in the Division I SHAC standings.
Seniors for Lynchburg-Clay are Sophia Michael, Reese Ruble, Kami Collins, Audrey Barry and Noel Barnhill.
BOX SCORE
LCHS 110 010 0 — 3 11 3
PWHS 000 001 3 — 4 6 4