On the same day Mark Buehrle pitched his way into Major League Baseball's history books with only the 18th ever perfect game, the State Park Lady Trojans 9 & 10 softball All-Stars were one batter away from perfection in their dominating 3-0 Sectional Tournament opener against Hebron Thursday.

 

Lia Lombardini opened the game with a strikeout, walked the second batter of the game, then shut down the team from Hebron, racking up 16 strikeouts over six innings, retiring 18 of 19 batters.  There were only two plays made in the field, a lazy fly ball to second baseman Madeline Hamady and a weak come-backer Lombardini fired to first baseman Brittany Milzarek.  Lombardini and catcher Britta Johnson were in sync, mixing up pitches to keep Hebron's hitters flailing away all night.

 

The Lady Trojans were on the board in the first inning on a Lombardini walk, scoring on Milzarek's single.  The Lady Trojans offense struggled against Hebron's pitching, only able to knock out four hits, while striking out 10 times.  Hamady started the three-hit third inning with a single to right; moving to third after a Lombardini walk and a Milzarek single, Hamady was thrown out on a close play trying to steal home.   Kendall Fancher-Keller shot a hard drive up the middle, plating Lombardini and Milzarek.

 

Next up for the Lady Trojans is the second Sectional game in the best two of three series against Hebron in Demotte, Friday night.