With the game tied at five in the bottom of the eighth inning, it was Eastern’s Maggie Dorsey blasting a double to the fence in center field to bring home the winning run in Monday’s Southern Hills Athletic Conference battle between the home standing Eastern Lady Warriors and the visiting Fayetteville-Perry Lady Rockets.
It’s been a season in which the Lady Rockets have had to deal with the injuries of some key players while facing some tough competition in the SHAC.
As for the Lady Warriors, they had their share of struggles to start the season but have since showed significant improvement and have performed well in recent outings with the regular season winding down.
In Monday’s game at Eastern, it was Taylor Mechlin going the distance in the pitcher’s circle for the Lady Rockets while Taylor Dotson threw all eight innings for the Lady Warriors.
The Lady Rockets were quick to get on the scoreboard in their bout at Eastern, capitalizing off a couple of Lady Warrior errors to take a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
The Lady Warriors went to bat in the bottom of the first, scoring one run to cut the Fayetteville lead to 2-1.
With two outs in the bottom of the first, Eastern seniors Andrea Edmisten, Allison Malott, and Morgan Reynolds all hammered out singles in a row with Reynolds recording the RBI.
Dotson struck out two of the three batters she faced in the top of the second inning, as the Lady Warriors were able to hold the Rockets run-less in the frame.
Dotson and Emily Bradford swung for singles in the bottom of the second inning, but the Lady Warriors failed to score in the side. With two innings in the books, the Lady Rockets were clinging tight to a 2-1 advantage.
After holding the Lady Rockets run-less again in the top of the third inning, Edmisten singled in the bottom of the third, stole her way into scoring position, and later scored off a single by Kameron Tomlin to tie the game at two.
Neither team was able to score a run in the fourth or fifth innings, as they remained knotted at two heading into the top of the sixth. Fayetteville’s freshman catcher Maddie Brockman gunned down two Eastern runners while attempting to steal in the bottom of the fourth inning to help prevent a Lady Warrior run.
Brockman cranked out a double to lead off the top of the sixth inning while Brianna Fay reached base on an error, and the Lady Rockets capitalized off an Eastern error to score two runs to take a 4-2 lead.
The Lady Warrior bats heated up again in the bottom of the sixth as Reynolds, Tomlin, and Dotson cranked out three straight singles.
A sacrifice fly by Dorsey lifted the Lady Warriors to a 5-4 lead before the start of the seventh inning.
A run-scoring double by Fayetteville’s Delanie Combs with two outs in the top of the seventh inning tied the game at five.
The Lady Rocket defense held sturdy in the bottom of the seventh, holding the Lady Warriors scoreless in the frame to send the game into extra innings.
Dotson struck out the first batter she faced in the top of the eighth inning and the next two hit into fly-outs, as it was three up and three down for the Lady Rockets.
Bradford led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a single. The next Eastern batter flew out to foul territory to mark the first out in the bottom of the eighth inning.
With one runner on and one out, it was Dorsey coming to bat in the bottom of the eighth, hammering out the game winning double that brought Bradford across home plate.
Dotson finished with nine strikeouts in an outstanding performance at the pitcher’s circle.
Mechlin was backed by a sturdy Fayetteville defense in the field, finishing the game with three strikeouts.
Dorsey swung for two hits in four at-bats during Monday’s win with a single, a double, and a sacrifice.
Edmisten went three-for-four batting with three singles.
Reynolds managed two hits in four at-bats.
Dotson swung for two hits in four at-bats with two singles, and Bradford also batted two-for-four with a pair of singles.
Murphy finished one-for-two with a single and two walks.
Brockman hammered out a double to finish one-for-three.
Fayetteville’s Faith Spriggs managed a single in three at-bats.
The Lady Warriors rose to a SHAC record of 10-2 with Monday’s win, only one league game remaining on their regular season schedule.
Heading into the final game of the regular season and post-season tourney play just around the corner, Harold Dorsey was happy with the progress his team has made since game one.
“I’m very well pleased with where they are right now. Earlier in the year we had some issues, but I think we have them all worked out. We seem to be playing very good right now,” he said of his Lady Warriors.