Man High School won its third consecutive Class A Region 4 Section 1 championship with an 8-0 six-inning win over Buffalo Tuesday night at Man High School (Photo courtesy of Mandi Cooper).
Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
MAN Morgan Cooper remained hot in the circle and top-seeded Man pounded out 13 hits as the Lady Hillbillies defeated Buffalo, 8-0, in six innings Tuesday night at Man High School to capture its third straight Class A Region 4 Section 1 championship.
Man’s four through nine hitters in the lineup combined to go 11-for-20 with seven RBIs, five doubles and four runs.
The Lady Hillbillies have won 12 straight games and advance to next week’s Region 4 championship series. Buffalo ends the season with a record of 14-10.
Man, which is 16-3 overall, will travel to top-ranked Wahama for game one. Game two will be held at Man and if necessary, a winner-take-all game three would be at Wahama.
The White Falcons, 26-5 overall, are the two-time reigning Class A champions and have eliminated the Lady Hillbillies in the past two Region 4 finals.
Cooper tossed a one-hit shutout, walked one and struck out 16 in Tuesday’s win over Buffalo. At the plate, Cooper was walked four times and scored twice.
Mattie Carroll and Melody Rozzell led Man’s 13-hit attack with three hits each. Rozzell went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs while Carroll was 3-for-4 with a double and two runs.
Peyton Lusk and Kylie Blevins each had two hits. Lusk was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs while Blevins went 2-for-4 with one RBI.
Jacklynn Barnett was 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, Trista Marcum was 1-for-2 at the plate and Zoey Jackson 1-for-3 for the Lady Hillbillies.
Blevins broke a scoreless tie with her RBI single in the fourth to score Rozzell giving Man a 1-0 lead.
Man scored three more times in the fifth to extend its lead to 4-0 as Lusk had a run scoring double and Rozzell a run scoring single.
Dara Harmon had a one out single in the sixth for Buffalo to break up Cooper’s no-hitter.
Man put the game on ice in the sixth scoring four runs for the mercy rule victory. Lusk had a run scoring double to make it 5-0 and Barnett followed with a two-run double to give Man a 7-0 lead.
Rozzell then walked it off with a double to left field to score Barnett with the game ending run.
Kimmie Dillman took the loss for Buffalo after allowing eight runs on 13 hits with five walks and two strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.