In her final game of her junior season, Manchester first baseman Mahayla Brown went 2 for 3 in the Lady Hounds’ 4-3 loss at Fairfield on May 21. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
After a heartbreaking 12-10m loss to Reedsville Eastern in the district tournament semifinals on May 19, the Manchester Lady Greyhounds had to regroup quickly to take a last shot at tying for the top spot in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference small school division.
The Lady Hounds trailed Fairfield by one game in the standings after downing the Lady Lions in a 9-8 thriller on May 15 and had their chance to tie on May 21 when they made the long trek to Leesburg for their final regular season makeup game. It was another tight contest between the two squads that came down to the final pitch of the game. That final pitch resulted in a walk-off base hit for Fairfield’s Rilee Quickle, giving the Lady Lions a 4-3 victory and sole possession of the SHAC small school crown.
The host Lady Lions jumped out early in this contest, scoring three times in their first two at-bats off of Manchester starter Rylie Young, but Young would put up zeroes on the home side of the scoreboard for the next four innings, giving her offense time to mount a rally.
That rally began with a run for the Lady Hounds in the top of the fourth off of Fairfield’s Quickle. With one out, Ellianna Applegate and Bristynn McClanahan singled and Applegate came home on an infield hit by Mahayla Brown. Manchester crept one run closer in the top of the fifth when Abby Neria singled, was replaced at first by courtesy runner Chloe Freeman, and Freeman later scored on an error make it 3-2.
The Lady Hounds made it all the way back to tie the game in the top of the seventh on an RBI ground out by Addilyn Hunter, but that only set the stage for Fairfield’s heroics in the bottom half. After Young struck out the first hitter, Avery Morrow singled to left and was sacrificed to second by Whitlee Morrow. That brought Quickle to the plate and on the first pitch she singled to right, bring Avery Morrow home with the run that clinched the small school crown for the home team.
Despite the two losses that ended the season, the Lady Hounds still had a very impressive season, finishing 18-6 overall, 10-3 in conference play. They will lose the services of four seniors- Rylie Young, Jaylise Applegate, Keeley Monroe and Chloe Freeman, but return a solid nucleus that should keep them in the conference and district hunt once again in 2026.
Manchester
000 011 01 —3
Fairfield
210 000 1 —4
Manchester Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Hunter 3-01-1-, Young 3-0-0-0, E. Applegate 3-1-1-0, McClanahan 4-0-1-0, Brown 3-0-2-1, J. Applegate 3-0-0-0, Carter 3-0-0-0, Neria 3-0-1-0, Hayslip 3-0-1-0, Team 28-3-7-2.
Fairfield Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Quickle2-2-1-1, Maynard 2-1-0-0, Hattan 3-0-1-1, Crowder 1-0-0-0, Sanders 2-0-0-0, Bales 2-0-0-1, Smith 3-0-0-0, A. Morrow 2-1-1-0, W. Morrow 1-0-0-0, Team 18-4-3-3.
Extra-Base Hits: Hattan 2B
Manchester Pitching
Young (L)- 6.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 11 K
Fairfield Pitching
Quickle (W)- 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
