WESTPHALIA -- The Fatima Lady Comets never lost in the month of September. They opened October with a rematch against the second-ranked team in the state.
So far, the Lady Comets are 1-0 this month.
Fatima finally broke through in Monday’s pitchers’ duel, scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to prevail with a 2-0 win against the Hallsville Lady Indians.
Kinzey Woody singled to open the bottom of the sixth, then Faith Jaegers doubled to center field, scoring Woody to put the Lady Comets in front 1-0.
Jaegers then tagged up and advanced to third base on a flyout by Mia Kliethermes. With two outs, Jaegers scored on a wild pitch for an insurance run, giving Fatima a two-run lead.
Fatima pitcher Taylor Baumhoer had a perfect game through five innings, striking out 12 of the first 15 batters she faced. Baumhoer struck out the first nine Hallsville batters of the game: three looking, six swinging.
The first two Hallsville batters in the sixth inning reached base, and the Lady Indians had runners on second and third base with no outs in a scoreless game.
Baumhoer responded with a strikeout, a flyout to center field and a groundout to the shortstop, stranding both runners in scoring position.
Hallsville pitcher Edie Cobb finished with one walk and nine strikeouts in six innings, starting the game with five scoreless innings.
Baumhoer pitched all seven innings for Fatima, striking out 14 without yielding a walk. Abby Leer broke up the perfect-game bid with a leadoff single in the sixth inning, Hallsville’s only hit in the game.
Fatima finished with three hits. Hannah Heisler opened the game with a leadoff single to left field for the Lady Comets.
Hallsville (18-3), ranked No. 2 in Class 3, also lost 1-0 to Fatima on Sept. 16 in the championship game of the Jefferson City Lady Jays Classic.
Fatima (27-2), which has won 24 consecutive games, hosts Class 3 No. 6 Father Tolton (19-9) at 5 p.m. today. This will be the third meeting of the season between the Lady Comets and the Lady Trailblazers. Fatima won both games, 7-5 and 4-1.