'We were going to have to work' Fairfield softball walks off Kings to win district title

Fairfield senior Leanna Lawson stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh inning of a 1-1 tie against Kings. She had had a rough day at the plate, striking out twice and bunting into a double play.

The Indians had struggled up to that point, stranding seven baserunners throughout the game. She was determined to not add to that number or let the game go to extra innings.

"I obviously was aware that I hadn't had such a good game so far, but I was ready for it because I knew I just had to pick myself up," Lawson said.

She took an aggressive approach, bouncing the first pitch she saw into center field to score Ava Hensley and give the Indians their second straight district title. Lawson didn't stop running after reaching first base, leading her teammates down the right field line to celebrate the win.

The Indians' second one-run game of the season came just three days after they scored 11 unanswered runs to beat Ross, 11-5. The two wins showed how multifaceted they are, but the one commonality between the victories was their resolve to never back down.

"Ross played us so well. People keep saying they woke us up, but I think it made us realize that we were going to have to work and fight to get back where we wanted to be," Fairfield head coach Brenda Stieger said.

The teams expected a low-scoring, close game as they both allowed just over two runs per game this season. Kings senior pitcher Isabelle Noble entered the contest with a 1.27 ERA while Fairfield hurler Megan Spence sported a 1.43 ERA.

"I was just moving my ball around, up and down, in and out, wherever I could put it and they just hit dinkers. Kudos to them. They played a great game and they were hard to get out," Spence said. "(Noble) pitched an amazing game. She was moving the ball around a lot."

Noble finished with eight strikeouts while Spence scattered three hits and walked one batter.

The sixth inning tested Fairfield's defense as Kings loaded the bases with no outs. Errors had played a role in the Indians' previous losses and could have done them in in the district championship. After Grace Parkhurst's sacrifice fly to center tied the game, Spence induced another fly ball and a grounder to third to get out of the inning.

"That's what we just worked on in practice the last couple days, just game-ending plays. Not the same infield stuff, just game-ending. How are we going to put pressure on ourselves?" Stieger said.

Kings was 2-0 against the Greater Miami Conference this season after beating Hamilton in the district semifinal, but suffered its third one-run loss of the season. In John Schablein's first year with the Knights, they finished 22-4, had a 14-game winning streak in the middle of the season, and won their first Eastern Cincinnati Conference championship.

"They worked their butts off all winter and it showed," Schablein said.

The Indians will face Lakota East in a regional semifinal at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, May 22 at Mason High School. The Thunderhawks won their first district title since 2019 by scoring 10 runs in the seventh inning to shock Fairmont, 12-11. Fairfield beat Lakota East twice in the regular season.

"That'll be fun next week," Spence said.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 'We were going to have to work' Fairfield softball walks off Kings to win district title