Above, East's Melissa Balliet prepares to throw to first base. Below, East's pitcher, Alysha Hoover sends one home on Sunday, Aug. 6. District III lost the series opener 6-1. Bottom, District III's Kelsey Riggleman gets an out at second base. Photos by RUSLANA LAMBERT

“The District III team was not what I expected. They are much better than the team we saw at regionals,” Balliet said.

The East looked the part of regional champ to start the game as starting pitcher Nicole Smith struck out the side on 15 pitches and then added two manufactured runs in the bottom half of the first. But the District III team wasn’t interested in looking bad in front of a sizable home crowd.

From there, starting pitcher Heather Draper and her teammates combined to work four consecutive shutout innings, including a two-out, bases-loaded second inning and a one-two-three third inning, but were unable to get over the hump for the win.

Neither team hit the ball well (combined 10 hits; six for the East and four for District III) and with Smith rocketing fastballs estimated around 60 mph according to Balliet, District III felt an intense sense of urgency to try to tie the game as soon as possible.

Through three innings, Smith allowed only one base runner on a passed-ball strikeout, but District III finally received a ray of light in the top of the fourth.

Centerfielder Kari Bergh and catcher Danielle Hanldeman led off the fourth with a bloop single to right field and drew a full-count walk, giving District III a beautiful scoring opportunity.

First baseman Jenna Adkins’ 2-1 sacrifice bunt down the third base line moved the runners into scoring position but heads-up play derailed a District III rally.

Faced with a 2-2 count, second baseman Megan Torbert hit into a 5-2 fielder’s choice, and a decisive throw by third baseman Alysha Hoover to catcher Jordan Fredrick was in more than enough time to stonewall Bergh at the plate.

Haldeman hustled to second on the fielder’s choice and then to third on the play at the plate but she wasn’t satisfied with just two bases.

After the play at the plate, Fredrick tossed the ball back to Smith, just like she’d do after any out or pitch. But when she did, Haldeman made a surprise break for the plate with the ball in the pitcher’s glove.

Smith’s back was turned as she headed back to the mound but Fredrick alerted her of the sneak attack and, following a quick flip back to home plate, Haldeman was out and their fourth-inning rally was over.

“We didn’t play well,” District III manager Mike Riggleman said. “We weren’t sharp mentally and we made some very bad base-running mistakes.”

“It was simply not the time or the place to try to make something happen,” he added.

District III held the East off for two more innings, with runners in scoring position, before they gave way in the bottom of the sixth inning.

To that point, Draper had allowed five walks, three hits for two runs while fanning five. But by the bottom of the sixth, the East was eager to put some insurance runs on the board.

Right fielder Kelly Pfleegor’s RBI single scored left fielder Brittnay Hoffman, who drew a one-out walk, and Smith fought off a full-count to deliver a RBI single past the shortstop Kelsey Riggleman.

Pfleegor scored the East’s fifth run (5-0) on an overthrown ball to Draper by Haldeman, and Smith added their sixth and final run on a suicide steal that ended with a passed ball..

“We haven’t been hitting like we usually do so we tried to be aggressive on the bases and make them make a throw,” Balliet said.

District III started a one-out rally in the top of the seventh, following a stand-up double by Adkins, and was knocked in for their only run of the game on a Torbert RBI single up the middle.

Draper kept hope alive by singling into a hole on the right side of the infield giving District III runners at first and second with one out but that was a close as they’d come.

Draper gave up six runs on six hits, five walks and striking out six.

Smith earned the win while striking out five and allowing only two base runners over four innings. The East’s reliever, Larissa Luu, came in and pitched the final three innings to preserve the win.