Calhoun's Liscio fans 20 in 9-inning no-hitter against Gordon Lee

photo Kinsey Liscio
Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. -- If pitching is the name of the game in softball's postseason, then Calhoun and Gordon Lee are well stacked for runs at new state championships.

Class AAA Calhoun, the Georgia AA champion last year, edged the top-ranked Class AA (and multiple time Class A champion) Lady Trojans 1-0 Tuesday as junior pitcher Kinsey Liscio fired a nine-inning no-hitter. The hard-throwing right-hander mixed a crisp curveball with a nasty rising fastball to strike out 20 Gordon Lee batters.

Her first 10 outs were via strikeout, as was her last when she got Shay Wooten with the tying and potential winning runs in scoring position in the ninth.

"Wow, Kinsey was awesome," Calhoun coach Diane Smith exclaimed. "My girls never gave up and we played decent defense, and that's a big key for us. That's where we've lost is when we give up unearned runs, so this is a good time to see a game like this. The region tournament starts Saturday, so it's nice to tune up like this against a very good team."

Gordon Lee ace Emily Armour (four hits, 14 strikeouts) matched Liscio inning for inning, though she allowed a baserunner in each of the nine innings and four times stranded a Calhoun runner at third base. However, in the ninth, with the international tiebreak rule in effect and Calhoun's Taylor Kelly beginning the inning at second base, it took just one batter to change the game. Emily Mitchell put down a perfect bunt that Armour somehow managed to stretch out and field as she charged hard to the first-base line.

She underhanded the ball to first, but the bag was empty as Wooten also had charged the ball. The two-base error easily scored Kelly with the go-ahead run and gave Liscio the only edge she would need. In the bottom half a strikeout, a walk and a sacrifice bunt had Gordon Lee runners on third and second when she got Wooten with a riser to end the game.

"We had the mindset from the beginning that we wanted to beat this team, because, according to Taylor Kelly, Calhoun has never beaten them," said Liscio, who improved to 13-3. "It's her senior year and we mainly did it for her. This brings us all together and I would say it will boost our confidence all around. It was just great."

The Lady Yellow Jackets (22-5) will be the No. 2 seed in the Region 7-AA tournament, which starts Saturday in Dalton, and will have a bye to the semifinals. Liscio hopes the solid effort Tuesday against the 22-5 Lady Trojans will carry over to next week.

"This hopefully will set the tone," she said. "We have to set the tone against every team, especially [top-seeded] Ringgold. If we can play like we did tonight, we'll be able to do that."

Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.

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