NEW ALBANY

Down two runs, with two outs, in the seventh inning Seymour sophomore Katie Suits blasted a two-run homer to center field to help send their sectional matchup with Bedford North Lawrence to extra innings.

Despite a gritty effort, the Owls couldn’t muster a comeback as they fell 9-8 in the first round of the Class 4A postseason tournament.

In the first inning, the Stars opened a 3-0 lead.

Trailing 4-0 in the fifth innings, the Owls mounted a mini-comeback. Faith Rebber hit an RBI single to first put the Owls on the board.

With two runners on base, Deaton hit a two-RBI single. After missing the tag-out at home plate, the Stars overthrew to second base which allowed Deaton to make her way home and tie the game at 4-4.

The Stars tacked on three runs in the sixth inning behind four hits, after putting up one in the bottom of the fifth, to go up 8-4.

Not to be outdone, the Owls loaded the bases in the top of the seventh.

Following a sacrifice RBI from Haley Westfall, Rebber scored on a wild pitch to bring the game within two runs.

Then, Suits had the most clutch hit of her career as an Owl.

“Those two-run hits when in scoring position can be devastating to a team that late,” Personett said. “I thought that might have given us some momentum. It was just a good ballgame.”

After holding the Owls scoreless in the next two innings, the Stars tallied their final run in the bottom of the ninth behind an RBI single from Tristin Day.

“I thought our kids did a great job battling back,” Personett said. “We had two four-run deficits we came back from. We showed a lot of fight. There were a couple of times where it would have been really easy to lay down but our kids kept coming back. I’m proud of the effort.”

At the end of the game, the Stars tallied 20 hits to the Owls’ 12.

Last time the Owls faced the Stars, the Stars recorded a perfect game.

The Owls will graduate six seniors from this year’s team.

“I can’t say enough about this senior class,” Personett said. “They’re leaders on the field, in the classroom, in their churches and community. They’re involved in everything. I think between them we have a combined GPA of 4.37 on a 4.0 scale. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of kids. I look forward to what the future holds for them.”