Alliance, OH- It's almost as if Junior Klary McKay knew what was coming weather wise before any meteorologist. Despite a sun splashed field to start the game against the Alliance Aviators, the threat of storms was on the way. Lucky for the Warriors, it would be the biggest threat they would face this afternoon.
West Branch Pitcher Klary McKay rocks to fire an offering in the bottom of the 7th.
From the start, McKay had the Aviators number, setting them down in order through 4 and 1/3 innings, before Alexa Brown reached base on a fielding error. It would be the only Aviator runner that McKay allowed through 6 innings.
On the offensive side, the Warriors were able to score early, but Alliance Freshman Pitcher Lilly White settled in and kept her Aviators within striking distance throughout the afternoon. In the first, the Warriors scored on a single from Sara Schmidt that brought Ellie Tucker around to score. In the 3rd, the Warriors added to their lead on an Addi Craven double to left that brought Schmidt around to score after she drew a walk.
That would be all the scoring that White would allow until Josie Milliken opened the top of the 7th with a home run to center field, giving the Warriors their penultimate advantage of 3-0.
Alliance was finally able to break up the No-Hit bid in their final at-bats in the bottom of the 7th when Tasia Hendershot sent a sharp grounder to short that was knocked down by Josie Milliken but no throw could be made. McKay didn't let the loss of her no-hitter deter her from finishing off the shut out. She followed that single by getting Kaidance Adkins to ground into a fielders choice and Alexa Brown to ground out to short to end the game.
As soon as the players retreated to their dugouts following their handshakes of sportsmanship, the clouds opened and the downpour was on. A late inning single may have been enough to break-up a memorable game, but Klary McKay worked at a swift enough pace to make sure Mother Nature wouldn't put an asterisk on her outing.