The Chillicothe Lady Hornets met Centralia in the Class 3 District 4 championship game in Mexico on Monday night in a battle of the titans. Chillicothe entered at 29-2, the top seed in the district and ranked #1 in the state while Centralia was 27-6, third in the state and the 2 seed in the district tournament. Chillicothe defeated Centralia in the regular season matchup 15-4, but both teams saved their top pitchers for this clash.
The two seniors in the circle were in command throughout the matchup. For Chillicothe, Landry Marsh picked up right where she left off in the district semifinal, pitching a perfect game through the first 6 innings and finished with 14 strikeouts on the night. Centralia’s pitcher, University of Missouri signee Jaylynn Brown matched Marsh most of the way, as her perfect game lasted through four innings. In the bottom of the 5th, the first hit of the game occurred when Lady Hornets freshman Quin Marsh connected on a single in right field with two outs. Chillicothe was unable to capitalize on that opportunity and the score remained 0-0 heading into the 6th inning.
Brown began to show some cracks in the armor in the bottom of the 6th, with two outs Hope Donoho was hit by a pitch, then Marsh and Maddie Robinson were walked to load the bases. During the next at bat, Ellie Acree made contact but lined the ball to Centralia shortstop Claire Page to end the scoring chance for Chillicothe.
Scoreless in the top of the 7th, Centralia led of with their first hit of the game, a single from Blakely Van Dyke. Then with one out and Van Dyke on 2nd base, Jaylynn Brown stepped to the plate. Brown delivered the decisive swing of the night, taking the pitch from Marsh deep into left field for a two shot homerun breaking the deadlock. Brown then came through in the circle, striking out the side in the bottom of the 7th to propel Centralia to the 2-0 win in the district title.
The Lady Hornets season as defending state champs comes to a devastating end with a program best 29-3 record which included a 7th straight Midland Empire Conference championship and a record breaking 24 game win streak. Marsh struck out 14 batters in her final game as a Chillicothe Lady Hornet and had 30 strikeouts over the two district games. She allowed just two baserunners, on a pair of hits. Centralia’s Jaylynn Brown finished the night with 12 strikeouts and just one hit allowed while walking three batters. Centralia will advance to the Class 3 state quarterfinals.