Fairfield barely a bump in the road for Fort Madison

FORT MADISON ? In the opening round of Class 3A regional play, Fairfield ran into a buzzsaw that has taken the form of the Fort Madison softball team.

Fort Madison?s 11-1 victory over the Trojans effectively ended Fairfield?s season and moves the Bloodhounds one step closer to the state tournament ? a tournament they took second in last season.

?First off Fort Madison just played really well. They hit the ball well and have been on a hot streak here at the end of the season ? we haven?t been,? said Fairfield head coach Bob Bradfield.

A last-minute lineup change put eighth-grader Katie Anderson at second base. The Trojan defense faltered quickly committing six errors in the game, coupled with 11 Fort Madison hits, as the Bloodhounds sped away for the victory with a big boost from a six-run second inning.

?For us to have a chance to win, we were going to have to have really good pitching, good defense and make the routine plays, and we struggled with that.? Bradfield said. ?They can hit all the way through the order and everything just kind of snowballed after the big second inning.?

Bloodhound ace Morgan Louck shut down Fairfield on the other end pitching five innings without a single hit allowed and eight strikeouts. Anderson, Rachel Robinson and Gretchen Granneman came back in the sixth with three hits against relief pitcher Kaci Hemmie including Robinson?s RBI single to put the Trojans on the board.

The loss is Fairfield?s 10th in the final 11 games of the season and lowers their 2009 mark to 17-22. Fort Madison moves on to play Keokuk tonight in Fort Madison. Keokuk advanced with a 3-1 win against Mount Pleasant.