Grand finale

Grand finale

Lady Pats slam door in Searcy

Sports Editor SEARCY — One of the calling cards for the Marion Lady Patriots in 2016 has been the big inning.

The Lady Pats struck again here last Friday afternoon.

Marion (17-6 overall, 10-4 7A/6A-East, 5-1 6A-East) scored five times in the top of the fourth, while getting a complete game four-hitter from senior Mabry Watson to take down a 6-2 win against league rival Searcy in the team’s regular season finale at Searcy Sports Complex.

The Lady Pats’ fate in the state softball tournament was already set prior to first pitch in Searcy as Marion will be the No. 1 seed from the 6A-East for the second straight season, while Searcy will be the only team to miss the cut from that conference for the second straight season.

“Yeah man, it was pretty tough,” said David Horton, Marion’s head softball coach. “We were able to scrape some runs across finally.”

Watson worked all seven innings, allowed four hits and struck 11 hitters out to pick up the winning.

“Mabry really pitched her heart out there,” Horton says. “I thought she was fantastic, as always. As long as you get some good pitching and good defense, you can have some success.”

Watson was so good that she was actually perfect into the game’s fifth inning. The senior retired the first 13 batters that she faced, highlighted by 10 strikeouts.

In that fifth inning, Marion’s defense took the wheel following a Watson walk.

With a potential perfect game squashed, Marion senior centerfielder Kristin Bolton ran down a blooper in short left-center field and made an exciting falling catch to keep the no-hitter intact. The following Lady Lions batter came through with the team’s first hit, but Watson would fan the next batter to escape the inning.

While Bolton’s catch helped Watson protect a nohitter, Marion ended the game with another slick defensive play.

With Searcy having already plated two runs, and a pair of runners in scoring position with just one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, Searcy’s Lauren Joyner hit a ball hard towards Marion shortstop Hope Phipps.

Phipps gloved the shot while looking Erin Thomason back to the bag at third base and threw to first to retire Joyner for the inning’s second out.

As soon as Phipps made the throw, Thomason broke for the plate, when first basewoman Haley Cook threw a strike to Marion catcher Micah Tolleson, who slapped a tag on Thomason just in time to record the game’s final out and make a winner of the visitors.

“We made a lot of plays. We didn’t really have any misplays out here, and that’s huge,” Horton said of his team’s error-free performance. “That last one with Hope, Haley and Micah turned was great. You have to credit them for that.”

Marion’s defense dominated on a day that the Lady Pat offense struggled with runners on base. Marion left eight runners on the bases against Searcy, and scored but one run outside of their fourth-inning rally.

That rally started with the first five Lady Pats reached in some fashion, ranging from a walk, to a pair of singles, to a strikeout that wasn’t handled by Searcy’s catcher.

Tolleson led off and scored on a Cook single for the game’s first run and Cook would come around on a passed ball for a 2-0 lead.

Bolton reached on the error by the catcher ahead of a Destiny King single.

Watson helped Marion’s lead swell to 3-0 when she doubled to score Bolton and Morgan Weaver grounded out to score King for a 4-0 advantage.

Marion senior Raygan Shelton capped the scoring in that stanza by she singled in Watson for a fast 5-0 lead after four innings.

The Lady Pats took a 6-0 lead when Watson scored on an RBI single by Weaver in the sixth inning.

“That’s a credit to our girls to keep competing hard when things may not have gone their way early on,” Horton added.

Marion will advance to the Class 6A state tournament, and will actually get a bye to the state quarterfinals, thanks to their No. 1 seed from their conference.

The Lady Pats will play the winner of Thursday’s Lake Hamilton-Alma contest. That game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. first pitch. If Marion should win that game, they would play on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

By Chuck Livingston