Fairfield Lady Lions shutout two straight

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The Fairfield Lady Lions hosted the East Clinton Lady Astros Thursday evening at Fairfield High School.

The Lady Lions (4-0, 2-0 SHAC) continued their hot start to the season defeating the Astros in five innings by a score of 10-0.

Kaiti White pitched her second complete game shutout in two days. While not as dominant on the mound as the previous night she still managed to strike out 10 batters and did not allow a walk.

In the bottom of the first inning the Lady Lions got off to a fast start with Sherry Heckathorn drawing a walk in the lead-off spot. Carli Reiber followed up with a single into left field. The first run of the inning came courtesy of White who smashed the ball for an RBI double. The Lady Lions continued to hit well as Kourtnie Smith joined the party with a two RBI triple. The Lady Lions led 4-0 after one inning.

The Lady Astros showed some fight in the top of the second inning advancing a runner to third base. That was as close as they would get in the inning as White went on to strike out the final batter in the inning, ending the threat.

White would add to the lead with a sacrifice ground-out, which brought the lead to 5-0 heading into the third inning.

The most exciting play of the night came in the top of the third, with a Lady Astro attempting to steal second, catcher Smith threw a laser to short stop Emily Williams who made the tag for the out.

After uneventful bottom of the third and top of the fourth innings the Lady Lions lit up the scoreboard again in the bottom of the fourth. Heckathorn blasted a shot past the short stop and into shallow left field for a single, she would go on to steal third base, after being advanced to second on a single by Reiber, and then stole home plate on a wild pitch. White again helped her own cause driving in another run on a single. Emily Williams added another run in the inning with an RBI single to bring the score to 8-0 after four innings.

The Lady Lions put the finishing touches on the game in the bottom of the fifth inning with Shania Setty earning an infield single. Megan Gragg followed that up with another infield single to place the winning runs on base. Reiber knocked a ground ball over second base to score Setty, and place Gragg on third base. White finished the game off with a sacrifice fly to left field enabling Gragg to score and end the game.

After the game Coach Mark Dettweiller said, “I’m really proud of the girls, they showed up here ready to go, you could feel the energy tonight, it was alot different than it has been.”

Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or Twitter @RCApplegate89.

Spargur, Smith, and Gragg Lead 14 Hit Attack

Wednesday was an absolutely beautiful day for softball as the Fairfield Lady Lions traveled to Aberdeen to face the Ripley Lady Blue Jays in a Southern Hills Athletic Conference game played at the Ripley Middle School.

The Fairfield Lady Lions (3-0, 2-0 SHAC) continued their dominance over Southern Hills Athletic Conference opponents as they shutout the Ripley Lady Blue Jays (2-5, 1-3 SHAC).

Kaiti White pitched the two hit shutout as the Fairfield Lady Lions defense again played error-less softball.

The Lady Lion hitters would pound out 14 hits on the afternoon. They were led by Lyndee Spargur with 4 hits, Kourtnie Smith with 3 hits, and Megan Gragg with 3 hits.

The Fairfield Lady Lions were slow to get started going out in order in the top of the first inning. The Ripley Lady Blue Jays on the other hand seemed ready to play as Erin Campbell ripped a single up the middle just out of the reach of a diving Carli Reiber. But White would strike out the next batter, and then entice the third batter to hit a double play ground ball right at Lady Lion second baseman Reiber who tagged the runner and threw the batter out at first.

The Lady Lions would score three runs in the top of the second inning. Smith lined a single to left field. One out later, Lauren Arnold drew a walk and Spargur drove in Smith with a bunt single as Arnold advance to third base. Shania Setty grounded out, but scored Arnold. Gragg had an infield single to score Spargur.

The Fairfield Lady Lions added five more runs in the top of the third inning. Reiber and White had back to back singles. Smith tripled to the fence in left field to drive in Reiber and Thackston running for White. Lauren Arnold was hit by a pitch and Spargur reached on a bunt single. Setty would drive in two runs on a ground ball and was safe on an error.

The Lady Lions scored three more runs in the top of the fourth inning on singles by Spargur, Setty, and Gragg.

Fairfield would complete the scoring in the top of the fifth inning on singles by Smith, Emily Williams, Spargur, and Gragg.

White and the Lady Lion’s defense would seal the victory in the bottom of the fifth inning on a ground ball double play to Reiber and foul fly ball to Smith.

Leading hitters for the Lady Lions: Spargur (4 for 4, 4 runs, 2 rbi), Smith (3 for 4, triple, 3 runs, 2 rbi), Gragg (3 for 4, 2 rbi), Setty (1 for 4, 4 rbi), White (1 for 2, 3 runs), Williams ( 1 for 3, sac fly, 1 run, 1 rbi), Arnold (0 for 1, 2 runs, 1 rbi), Sherry Heckathorn (0 for 3, 1 rbi).

White (3-0) was the winning pitcher for Fairfield. White’s Pitching line: 5 innings, 2 hits, no runs, no earned runs, 3 walks, and 5 strikeouts. Megan Scott (2-5) suffered the loss for Ripley. Scott’s pitching line: 5 innings, 14 hits, 15 runs, 13 earned runs, 5 walks, and 3 strikeouts.

The Fairfield Lady Lions will host the East Clinton Lady Astros tomorrow (Thursday) in a game slated to start at 5:00 PM.

The premier game in Ohio Division IV softball will take place on Saturday at the Fairfield Baseball and Softball complex in Leesburg. The Fairfield Lady Lions will host the Williamsburg Lady Wildcats with the varsity game slated to start at 11:00 AM. A JV softball game will follow the varsity game. Williamsburg won the Southwest Regional Tournament in 2016 and reached the State Semi-Final game where they lost to the eventual State Champions from Convoy Crestview. The Fairfield Lady Lions were Southeast Regional Runners-up finishing in the Elite 8. Fairfield lost to State Runner-up Strasburg Franklin.

Tom Purtell is an assistant coach with the Fairfield Lady Lions

Second baseman Carli Reiber hits an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2017/04/web1_Reiber_Hit.jpgSecond baseman Carli Reiber hits an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning.

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By Ryan Applegate

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