Harmon puts Lady Vikings in district finals

Published 12:00 am Thursday, May 15, 2003

MINFORD - Lori Harmon didn't leave much work for her teammates.

Harmon struck out 17 of the 21 outs as the Symmes Valley Lady Vikings beat the Southeastern Lady Panthers 5-2 Wednesday in the Division IV district semifinals.

Harmon (11-6) allowed just one hit and walked two in going the distance. The only hit was a single in the seventh inning.

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"Harmon struck out 17 so we didn't have to field very many," Lady Vikings coach Jeff "Odie" Estep said. "Harmon just had an outstanding game. She dominated the whole game until the last inning.

"But we played well and we hit the ball hard. Everybody in the lineup hit. We didn't have a batter strike out."

The only negative for the Lady Vikings was 11 stranded baserunners.

"We probably should have scored a few more," Estep said.

Symmes Valley scored two runs in the first inning.

Cassie Myers reached on an error, stole second, and scored on Harmon's base hit. Harmon stole second, moved up on a ground out, and came home on a wild pitch.

The lead went to 4-0 in the third.

Harmon singled, stole second, and scored when Stephanie Burns tripled. Tommie Holbrook then doubled home Burns to cap the rally.

The Vikes got their final run in the fourth when Jodi Black walked, took second on a passed ball, moved to third on a ground out and scored on a wild pitch.

Two walks, a single by Young and an error enabled Southeastern to score its two runs in the seventh inning.

But Harmon struck out three straight batters to end the uprising and the game.

Symmes Valley, 18-7, plays at Portsmouth Clay Friday in a showdown for first place in the Southern Ohio Conference.

The Lady Vikings play at 5 p.m. next Wednesday in the district finals against the winner of Thursday's game between White Oak and Clay.

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Patterson and Hatfield. Lori Harmon and Tommie Holbrook. W-Harmon 11-6 (17-K, 2-W). L-Patterson (0-K, 3-W). 2B-Symmes Valley: Tommie Holbrook. 3B-Symmes Valley: Stephanie Burns. Hitting-Southeastern: Young 1-2; Symmes Valley: Lori Harmon 2-3, Stephanie Burns 1-4, Tommie Holbrook 1-3, Jodi Black 1-2, Ginny Young 1-3.