ELIZABETHVILLE — Fairfield kept trying to open the door to a lead, but Upper Dauphin’s Lexi Weaver kept slamming it shut.
Stranding runners in scoring position in two of the final three innings, Weaver kept the Knights at bay, allowing Upper Dauphin to beat Fairfield 2-1 in a District 3 Class AA Tournament first-round softball game.
“It hasn’t been easy for us all year long,” Upper Dauphin head coach Chad Everhart said. “Stuff like that, bases loaded, two outs in the top of the seventh, or something like that.”
The victory sends Upper Dauphin, which earned its first District 3 playoff win in Everhart’s five seasons at the helm, into Thursday’s quarterfinals. The Trojans (12-10) will visit top-seeded Delone Catholic (15-4) in a 4:30 p.m. game at McSherrystown.
Fairfield (10-10) had already faced the Squirettes twice in league play this season and was looking forward to a rematch, but Weaver was having none of that.
She struck out 12, including four in the final inning because of a dropped third strike, and allowed just three hits.
“A lot of my movement pitches were working really good, and I was confident in them,” she said. “It helped that my teammates were there making amazing plays.”
For example, second baseman Mickayla Grow threw out one runner from a seated position after diving to stop Gena Eiker’s grounder.
But the hard work came down to Weaver, who surrendered just a sacrifice fly
to Megan Whalen for Fairfield’s run in the fourth.
In the fifth, leadoff hitter Madison Machalsky drew a walk and made her way to third base on two passed balls, but Weaver struck out the side to keep her there.
Things then got really interesting in the seventh.
Following an inning-opening strikeout, Fairfield was in business after Bailey Cool hit a single.
Weaver then got two more strikeouts, but the second strikeout pitch got away from the catcher, allowing Jordan Pryor to reach base.
Weaver then issued her third walk of the game to Lily Kapfhammer to load the bases.
Fairfield’s Meagan Leckemby then battled to a full count before swinging in vain for the strikeout to end the game.
“I couldn’t ask for any more opportunity than that and we just couldn’t get the hit when we needed it,” Fairfield head coach Terry Weikert said.
Weaver had to spend nearly the entire game preserving Upper Dauphin’s lead, achieved with two runs in the opening inning.
Taylor Brown lined a single off pitcher Courtney Harbaugh’s glove. Brown advanced all the way to third when Kendra Schlegel’s sacrifice bunt stopped dead on the first-base line, allowing her to reach safely.
After a lineout, Upper Dauphin’s Kaytee Mattern grounded out to shortstop, allowing Brown to score before the first baseman’s throw to the plate.
Gracie Miller followed with a wind-blown triple to deep right field to score Schlegel.
“It took a lot of pressure off me, and I was just focusing from there on doing my part,” Weaver said. “I have a lot of confidence in my team, so the pressure was kind of off.”
Yet Upper Dauphin never advanced a runner past first base in the remaining innings.
Fairfield halved the gap when Eiker tripled to right field to open the fourth. She scored on Whalen’s flyout.
From there, Weaver made sure Upper Dauphin would win its first district playoff game in six years.
“They just had a hard time catching up to the fastball,” Everhart said about Weaver’s day. “We tried to mix it in with some off-speed stuff, but she throws hard and can blow it up by people when she needs to.”
Game Summary
District 3 Class AA First Round
At Elizabethville
FAIRFIELD (1) — Leckemby cf 3 0 0 0, Harbaugh p 3 0 0 0, Eiker ss 3 1 1 0, Whalen 1b 3 0 1 0, Barron c 3 0 0 0, Cool 3b 3 0 1 0, Macharsky rf 2 0 0 0, Pryor lf 2 0 0 0, Kapfhammer dp 1 0 0 0, Lansford 2b 0 0 0 0. Totals 23 1 3 0.
UPPER DAUPHIN (2) — Brown ss 3 1 1 0, Schlegel rf 3 1 1 0, Weaver p 3 0 1 0, Mattern dp 3 0 0 1, Miller lf 2 0 1 1, Grow 2b 3 0 0 0, Crosby 3b 2 0 1 0, Walker 1b 2 0 0 0, Snyder cf 2 0 0 0, Klinger c 0 0 0 0. Totals 23 2 5 2.
Fair (10-10) 000 100 0 — 1
UDA (12-10) 200 000 x — 2
E — Fairfield 0, Upper Dauphin 0. LOB — Fairfield 6, Upper Dauphin 4. 3B — Whalen, Eiker, Miller. SB — Schlegel, Cool. S — Leckemby. SF — Whalen.
Fairfield IP H R ER BB K
Harbaugh L 6 5 2 2 0 4
U. Dauphin IP H R ER BB K
Weaver W,7-7 7 3 1 1 3 12
HBP — by Harbaugh (Miller). WP — Weaver. PB — Klinger 3. T — 1:16.