In one of the best pitching duels in 5th District softball tournament history, Livingston Central edged Crittenden County 1-0 in 10 innings Monday afternoon to advance to the district championship.
Victoria Harris led off the 10th inning with a double and scored on a Micaela Suarez single five pitches later.
Brylee Conyer smacked a one-out single to left in the home half of the tenth. Kalli Champion followed with a line drive that appeared to be caught by Livingston shortstop Lauren Wring. However, the ball fell to the ground where Wring flipped to second baseman Madison Bolte, who then fired to first for the double play.
Both teams were suspended in time for a second or two until the umpires ruled it a double play to end the game.
For Livingston Central, it’s their first trip to the district title game and region softball tournament since 2014 when the Lady Cardinals advanced to the region championship.
The final inning capped a fantastic pitching performance by Crittenden County’s Cassidy Moss and Livingston Central’s Sydney Lasher.
Moss scattered seven hits in 10 innings and struck out five. Lasher mixed speeds well all game and struck out six while allowing seven hits.
Livingston had a shot to take the lead in the ninth with runners at first and third with no outs. However, the Lady Cardinals tried to squeeze and bunted into a double play to end the threat.
Ashlyn Hicks led off the Crittenden ninth with a double, but Lasher coaxed three outs to end the inning.
Conyer led the Lady Rockets with three hits, and Hicks and Jada Hayes finished the day with two hits for Crittenden County, whose season ends with a record of 16-7.
Suarez and Harris, who triggered the 10th inning run for Livingston, each had two hits. Both teams had seven hits and played errorless ball in the field.
Livingston Central [17-7] moved into Monday’s championship game against Lyon County.
