In what one player described as a war of wills, Lee-Davis defeated Atlee 1-0 to capture the Capital District championship, but it didn’t come easy. It took 20 innings for the C-Feds to push a runner across the plate, despite the best efforts of the Raider defense.

  That defense allowed only five hits scattered over the almost four hour contest, and consistently shut down an aggressive Lee-Davis offense.

  Capital District pitcher of the year, Atlee’s Jackie Jenkins, went the distance for the Raiders in the heartbreaking loss.

  Lee-Davis utilized two pitchers in the victory. Kelsie Hudson started and went six scoreless innings, and freshman Kelly Heinz finished the job with 14 innings of near spotless pitching while amassing an amazing 24 strikeouts.

  “I relieved her for Kelsie because she’d pitched an emotional seven innings and it looked like she might be getting tired,” L-D coach Jackie Davis said. “Kelly pitched great. We couldn’t have asked for anything more. She went fourteen innings and never skipped a beat,” she added.

  It’s Lee-Davis second tournament championship in a row, and Davis said she couldn’t think of a more effective form of preparation for regionals than going 20 innings against the best pitcher in the region.

  “Getting that number of bats against Jackie can only help us get ready for those games,” she said. The C-Feds had no errors on five hits in the contest.

  With one out in the top of the 20th inning, Lacie Madison reached first on a hit and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Mitchell. A Jenkins’ fastball eluded the Raiders catcher and Madison took third on the error.

  When first baseman Meredith Holmes went down 0-2 in the count, the C-Feds scoring chances looked bleak and the possibility of more extra innings loomed large. That sense of doubt didn’t enter Davis’ or Holmes’ minds.

  “Her first two strikes are never good and 90 percent of her hits come with two strikes,” Davis said. “She doesn’t let it get her down and she stays focused.”

  For Holmes, a sophomore, it was business as usual despite the marathon nature of the contest.

  “I like the pressure situations,” Holmes said. “I do better in those situations. It had been 20 innings of hard-fought softball and I was really hungry.”

  That hunger resulted in a RBI single that reached the Atlee outfield, scoring Madison and giving the C-Feds a one run lead that they successfully defended in the bottom of the inning.

  Davis said she expected a tough game against Atlee, but this one may be one for the record books.

  “This is the longest game I’ve ever coached, and I thought both teams did an incredible job,” Davis said following the game. “Both teams played great defense and both pitchers pitched well. I told my kids coming into tonight’s game that the key was to play good solid defense. I told them the team that wanted it the most and played the best defense would be the team that wins it,” she added.

  Following the game, Lee-Davis catcher Cheese Mitchell was named Capital District softball Player of the Year. Atlee Coach John Earley was named Coach of the Year in the district.
 
L-D…. 000 000 000 000 000 000 01 — 1 5 0
Atlee.. 000 000 000 000 000 000 00 — 0 3 2
Hudson, Heinz (6) and Mitchell; Jenkins and Keyes
Records: Lee-Davis 16-4, Atlee 12-5

NOTES
The 20 inning game was the second longest in Central Region history and tied for the third longest in state history.  It was the longest since 2007.

38- The number of strikeouts thrown in the game tying two others as the states’ highest. Eight strikeouts came from Jackie Jenkins, six by Lee-Davis’ Kelsie Hudson.

30- Number of strikeouts by Lee-Davis, a new state record.

24- The number of strikeouts thrown by C-fed freshman Kelly Heinz, tying for third highest total in state history.

20- Number of innings pitched by Jenkins, third highest in state history.

19th- The first inning in which a runner reached first base with no outs.

18th- The inning in which the first runner for either team reached third base.