South Harrison Lady Bulldogs win their 3rd consecutive District Championship

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by Jeremy Benson, Grand River Conference Media LLC

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South Harrison and Marceline met for the 4th consecutive year in the District Championship for Softball.  Marceline won the first one, but South Harrison captured the next two with a walk-off win both years.

Marceline was the #3 seed coming into the game vs. the #1-seeded Lady Bulldogs.  Marceline got on the board first in the top of the 1st inning.  Hadley Dorrell scored on a passed ball to put the Lady Tigers up 1-0.  South Harrison answered in the bottom of the inning on a Bailey Barnett sacrifice fly.  Rory Fitzgerald added another run on a double that scored Taneya Doll.

South Harrison continued to tack on runs each inning.  In the second inning, a Maddie Meadows double scored Kenley Burkhead.  Fitzgerald added three more on a 3-run home run in the third.  The Lady Bulldogs lead 6-1 after three innings.

In the fourth inning, Meadows scored when Lexi Hunter reached on an error.  Hunter would score after she got caught in a rundown.  She evaded the tag at home to put South Harrison up 8-1 after 4 innings.

Both teams plated 2 runs in the 5th.  Marceline's runs came on an Emerald Bloss double that scored Dorrell and Katey Kussman.  South Harrison answered when Lexi Hunter was at the plate.  Lilly Wiley scored on a wild pitch, and then Hunter hit a solo home run.  South Harrison led 10-1 after 5 innings.

After Marceline failed to score in the 6th, South Harrison scored their last run when Baily Barnett hit a 3-run shot over the left field fence.  With the score 11-3, Marceline put together a little rally of their own.  After the first two reached, Emery Dodd homered over the center field fence.  However, Fitzgerald retired the next three hitters to close the game and capture the district championship 11-6.

Coach Aaron Fitzpatrick talked about the leadership of his seniors.  "They're exactly what you want in your program.  They're hard workers, good leaders, and love their teammates. I love each and every one of them.  We're going to miss them next year."

This is the third straight win for South Harrison over Marceline in the district championship.  In the previous two years, Marceline rallied to tie the game in the 7th before South Harrison walked it off.  While the Lady Tigers had a rally in the 7th again this year, South Harrison was able to hold them off for the win.

Coach Fitzpatrick added, "We had a little more breathing room this year.  I was hoping we could finish it off in the sixth, but left a couple of runners stranded.  Marceline is tough. Coach Lowther always has them ready to play.  A three-run homer in the top of the seventh brought the score close.  I expected nothing less than them to come and get a few runs in the last innings because that's in their DNA.  They are a quality program."

South Harrison will play at Highland on Saturday at 1:00 pm with a trip to the State Final Four on the line.  The Lady Bulldogs lost to Highland 9-0 in the quarterfinal round this year.  Coach Fitzpatrick spoke about the matchup with Highland after the game.  "The goal is to get back to state.  We've got a big one Saturday against Highland. They're a really quality team.  It should be a good program.  Coach Scifres and I go back a long time.  We played in my very first district championship, 16 years ago, at Putnam County.  We're pretty familiar with each other.  We're looking forward to it.

Marceline finishes the season with a record of 21-7.


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