Riley Blevins of Fairbanks watches the flight of her two-run homer against Wellington on Tuesday. The Lady Panthers won the Division III tournament game, 11-1, in five innings.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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When tournament time rolls around, a high school softball coach will tell you that’s when his or her team should be at its best.
Fairbanks High School coach Amy Sines is among that group and feels her Lady Panthers have played some of their best ball of the season over the past week.
“We’re peeking at the end of the regular season and into the tournament,” she said after Tuesday’s 11-1 victory in five innings over Columbus Wellington.
The win came during the opening round of the Division III tournament as the 14th-seeded Lady Panthers evened their record at 11-11.
Fairbanks clicked in all three facets of the game.
Junior southpaw April Ward had a solid outing in the pitching circle. She scattered four hits, fanned three and issued a trio of walks.
“April threw a great game,” said Sines. “She struggled with a few batters, but I think she did a great job of keeping Wellington off-balance with her change-up.”
Ward was supported by an offense that clubbed Jaguar hurler Camille Simpson for 11 hits and a defense that committed just one error.
“We’ve been hitting the ball well the past few games,” said Sines.
Fairbanks, which will play at No. 3 Utica on Thursday, plated runs in all five innings.
The Lady Panthers scored three times in the home half of the opening frame.
With one down, Cierra Madison and Madi Montenaro both reached safely on Wellington fielding miscues.
Wellington, the No. 19 seed, notched the second out of the inning, but Mack Greene ripped a base hit for an RBI.
Riley Blevins, who later helped put the game completely out of reach, blasted a double that drove in two runs.
FHS took a 5-0 advantage in the second.
Bella Rowland drew a free pass and later went to third on Anna Higbee’s one-out base hit.
Madison lofted a sacrifice fly that scored Rowland for a 4-0 margin.
Montenaro then doubled in a run as the Panthers’ lead expanded to five.
Ward, who stranded two Jaguars on base during the second inning, yielded the visitors’ lone run in the top of the third.
Ayana Cooper-Stevens blooped a single to the edge of the right field grass behind first base.
Rosemary Haskett singled, but FHS got an out at second when Cooper-Stevens took her time getting to the bag.
Fairbanks’ lone fielding miscue and a walk loaded the bases.
The Jaguars’ run came when Ward issued another free pass that left the sacks juiced.
The lefty, though, got herself out of the jam when she settled under an infield popup to end the inning.
The Lady Panthers put some additional separation between themselves and Wellington with a trio of runs in the bottom of the third.
With one out, Gracie Pyers doubled and later moved to third on a wild pitch.
She scored when Rowland reached base on an error.
Jayda Rausch was safe on a fielder’s choice and Higbee singled.
A Jaguar error in the outfield on the play put both Rausch and Higbee in scoring position.
Rausch raced home on a wild pitch and Higbee scored on Madison’s double for an 8-1 spread.
Blevins waved the big stick in the fourth when Fairbanks climbed to a 10-1 lead.
Allison Kise led off with a single and stole second base.
Blevins later strode to the plate with one down.
Simpson had a 1-1 count on the FHS sophomore, but her next pitch was what Blevins described as “beautiful.
“It was right down the middle,” she said.
Blevins turned on the offering and sent it sailing toward left field.
“I really thought their outfielder was going to catch it,” she said. “I guess you could say the wind aided it a bit.”
Mother Nature might have helped, but Blevins supplied some power as the ball sailed over the fence for a two-run homer.
“Riley’s home run was a great shot,” said Sines. “She hit the ball very well tonight.”
Pyers followed the dinger with a single, but Simpson got out of further trouble with a fly ball and a line drive for outs.
Ward hit the first Jaguar batter, Alexis Burkhalter, of the fifth inning.
However, she received assistance from her defense and a Jaguar base running miscue.
Lina Grohovsky popped the ball up to Kise at first base.
Instead of staying close to the bag, Burkhalter took off for second and was easily doubled up to complete the twin killing.
Ward then coaxed a ground ball out by Soleil Tibbets-Barnes to end the inning.
The Lady Panthers needed only one more score to invoke the run rule.
It appeared, however, as though the contest would go to a sixth frame when Simpson benefitted from a pair of groundball outs.
The Lady Panthers, though, decided it was time to call it a night.
Montenaro singled and then sped all the way home to end the game when Kise drilled a deep double.
“It’s always nice to get that first tournament victory,” said Sines. “We’ve been playing well lately and I think it really started when we beat West Liberty last week.
“I hope we can keep it going on Thursday at Utica.”
Wellington 001 00-1 4 4
FHS 323 21-11 11 1
WP: Ward
LP: Simpson