The Clopton Lady Hawks defended their 2009 Class 1 State Softball Championship title on Saturday against the very same team they defeated last year, Jefferson Conception and once again the Lady Hawks dominated. Relive all the action from state
The Clopton Lady Hawks got on the scoreboard in the very frst inning as junior Kayla Parrish laid down a bunt and beat the throw to first to get on base. While Michelle Hubbard was at the plate Parrish was able to make the steal to second base to get into scoring position. Hubbard laid down a sac bunt to advance Parrish to third. With one out senior Kelsea Dorsey stepped up. Dorsey put the ball in play, Jefferson tried to make the play at the plate however Parrish got across the plate and Dorsey ended up with a stand up double.
Jefferson got their first batter on but the Lady Hawks stopped the progress right away and then all was quite until Clopton came to bat in the top of the sixth. Dorsey again stepped up to the plate and shot the gap and slid into third for a triple. With a runner in scoring position and only one out, senior catcher Lacy Reading stepped into the batters box. With a one and one count, Reading hit a grounder to the short stop who bobbled the ball, it was enough to push Dorsey across the plate and get Reading on first. Junior third baseman Ashley Hollacher stepped up and got a single putting two runners on base with only one out, however they were left straded with back to back strikeouts.
It was enough to take Clopton to the bottom of seventh with a 2-0 lead. Jefferson's catcher Jill Henry was the first at bat and went down on strikes. Then short stop Ashley Chor stepped up sent a shot out to left fielder Taylor Barker who had trouble with the wet conditions as she bobbled the ball and allowed Chor to get an in the park homerun. With one out the lead was cut in half. Darcy Schieber stepped up and got a single out to right field, but senior Ellen Bruckerhoff was able to keep the ball in front of her and held Schieber to a single. Next up was center fielder Gina Schieber who drew a walk drew a walk to put runners on first and second with only one out. Righer fielder Jamie Degase stepped up and squared up to bunt when she was hit by a pitch, but Dorsey and the home plate umpire saw the pitch hit the bat first. Degase ended up being sat down on strikes and the Clopton Lady Hawks were just one out away from the championship title.
Jefferson's third baseman Kristina Bailey stepped up and with one pitch she made contact. It was a shot up the right side that hung just long enough for senior first baseman Katie Danuser to snatch it out of the air, end the game and give the Clopton Lady Hawks their second consecutive Class 1 State Championship Title with a 2-1 win.
From the mound, Dorsey went all seven innings, allowed one unearned run off of three hits, nine strikeouts and only one walk. Other the other side, Kendle Schieber went all seven innings, allowed two unearned runs off of four hits, 12 strikeouts and only one walk. Official Stats from MSHSAA
A special reception will be held for Clopton on Tuesday night at 6 pm at the school.
You can watch the all the action on MSHSAA TV by visiting their website at www.mshsaa.org, currently the video is not on the site at the time this story was published on our website so check back regularly.