Seckman holds off Jackson in district final

Seckman senior pitcher Holly Brown stood in the circle feeling a little anxious with two outs in the top of the seventh inning of the Class 4 District 1 title game against Jackson on Friday evening.

Her team was leading by one run and she had a full count on Indians No. 9 hitter Jessica Pitts with two runners on base.

"I was extremely nervous," Brown said. "I didn't even know what to think. I was like, 'Get out of it right here.' I knew if I [allowed] a grounder my fielders would field it, but I was just scared that she was going to get a hit. That was like the last thing I wanted."

Brown delivered the pitch and Pitts hit a dribbler to first base.

"I knew that we won it right there," Brown said. "I was just ready to get on the sideline and give everyone high fives and collect our plaque."

Seckman's Kelsey Biggs scooped it up and tagged the bag for the final out.

Top-seeded Seckman earned the 2-1 win over No. 2 Jackson at Jackson City Park to claim the Class 4 District 1 title.

"This is our second year in a row winning it, so I'm just pumped," Brown said.

All the scoring for both teams took place in the first inning. From the second inning on, it was a pitchers' duel between Brown and Jackson's Jessica Tuschhoff.

Back to back singles by Amanda Pitts and Kelci Keith in addition to a Seckman error allowed Jackson to take a 1-0 lead in the first.

In the bottom of that inning, Seckman's Brittany Smith led off with a double and scored when the following hitter, Biggs, stroked a double to center. Biggs later scored on a single straight up the middle by Nicole Molly to give Seckman the 2-1 advantage that it would cling to the rest of the way.

Tuschhoff said she has struggled in the first inning throughout the season.

"That first inning always gets me," she said. "I've had tough first innings and then after the first inning I just usually come back."

Tuschhoff allowed seven hits, struck out two and walked one in six innings. She was one of only two juniors in the Jackson starting lineup Friday. The other was Clarissa Smith. The rest were seniors.

"They are going to be missed," Tuschhoff said of the seniors. "They did a lot. They're always there for me and they're always behind me."

Brown allowed five hits and one walk while striking out five in seven innings. She was the winning pitcher in last year's district title game, too. She also beat Jackson earlier this season 1-0.

Jackson appeared to have a good opportunity to tie the game in the sixth when Keith drove a one-out double to left-center. But she was doubled off second base on the next play when she ran to third on a hard-hit line drive off the bat of Brittany Feeney which was caught by Seckman second baseman Jen Doyle.

Doyle threw to shortstop Taylor Harry, who was covering second base, for the inning's final out.

"We were just being aggressive on the bases," Jackson coach Amanda Forester said of the baserunning play. "When it is hit behind you like that, sometimes it's hard to tell whether it's in the gap or not. It was just being aggressive. That's what you've got to come out and do."

The Jackson offense also had another good chance to tie it in the seventh inning, but couldn't push across a run after getting a runner in scoring position with one out.

"We still had a lot of good hits and we were hitting it hard right at people," Forester said. "Sometimes that's just the way things go."

Jackson 100 000 0 -- 1 5 0

Seckman 200 000 x -- 2 7 2

WP -- Holly Brown. LP -- Jessica Tuschhoff. 2B -- Kelci Keith (J), Maggie Baugh (J), Brittany Smith (S), Kelsey Biggs (S). Multiple hits -- Jackson, Keith 2-3, Baugh 2-3; Seckman, Biggs 3-3. Record -- Jackson 16-11.