CLASS 7A: NLR pitcher covers all her bases

FAYETTEVILLE - Jessica Sheldon's one-hitter in last year's Class 7A state championship game wasn't good enough to beat Fayetteville.

WIldcats take home the 7A sofball championship

NLR vs. Fayetteville

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Her no-hitter in Saturday's championship rematch was more than adequate, propelling North Little Rock to a 1-0 victory in eight innings before a near-capacity crowd at Lady 'Back Yard.

"For a game of this magnitude, that was just incredible," North Little Rock Coach Perry Parr said. "Jessica just went to another level today."

Sheldon struck out 17, including three consecutive batters to end the game in the bottom of the eighth, when Fayetteville appeared to be on the verge of pulling off a victory similar to last year's title game.

North Little Rock (30-3) had broken a scoreless tie in the top of the eighth when Brittany Williamsopened the at-bat on second base under international tie-breaker rules. Williams advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, then scored on Tiffany Roby's sacrifice bunt, barely beating the throw from Fayetteville second baseman Katie Petrino.

Fayetteville (29-4) answered by putting runners at first and second with no outs, but Sheldon struck out three in a row to prompt a wild on-field celebration.

"Losing last year got us ready for this year. ... We've wanted this ever since we lost last year, and this is wonderful," said Sheldon, who was named the most valuable player. "We're so happy."

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Fayetteville beat North Little Rock 3-2 in eight innings last year, scoring the winning run on a sacrifice fly, and was gunning for its third consecutive state title. In the early going this time, though, Fayetteville appeared tentative and overmatched as Sheldon struck out 13 of the first 17 batters shefaced.

"She's just good," Fayetteville Coach Jason Shirey said. "She challenged us, and I'm disappointed with some of the at-bats we had. We looked like we didn't want to be in there the first three innings.

"That bothers me because I know we're better than that, and I know we prepared well."

Fayetteville's best chance to score in regulation play came in the fourth, when Petrino drew a one-out walk and stole second and third on consecutive pitches with two outs. Amanda Summerford drew a walk to put runners at the corners before Sheldon struck out Lindsay Davison to end the threat.

Sheldon relied heavily on her riseball to keep Fayetteville's normally potent offense in check, but she said she wasn't aware she was carrying a no-hitter into the last inning.

"Honestly, I didn't even know I threw one until someone told me,"Sheldon said. "It's amazing."

The victory also eased some of the pain Parr said he's felt since last year's game, when he inadvertently helped kill a North Little Rock rally by touching a runner on third base.

"Nothing against Fayetteville," Parr said. "They're two-time state champs, an unbelievable team and well-coached, but I was glad to see them win the other day. We wanted to play Fayetteville again. We had something to prove.

"When we got that last out, it sure relieved a lot of pressure."

Fayetteville, meanwhile, was forced to deal with its first state tournament loss since 2005.

"Hey, give them credit," Shirey said of North Little Rock. "They played a great game, their kid threw her guts out, and they found a way to score a run. We couldn't do that."

Sports, Pages 43 on 05/18/2008

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