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Photo/Mike Hensley Dannah Dawson delivers a pitch against Lee-Scott in the first round of the playoffs on Monday afternoon in Troy.

Photo/Mike Hensley Ally Rushing (left) talks with Morgan Bundy (4)

Photo/Mike Hensley

Photo/Mike Hensley

Photo/Mike Hensley

Photo/Mike Hensley

Photo/Mike Hensley

Photo/Mike Hensley

The Pike Liberal Arts Lady Patriots swept their way through the first round of the playoffs on Monday, defeating Lee-Scott 1-0 in game one and 12-0 in game two.

“It’s part of our goals,” said head coach Robert Rollan. “Our goal is to get to state and compete for a state championship. If you don’t past the first round, you don’t get a chance, so it opens the door for us to have a chance at it.”

It was the Dannah Dawson show in game one for the Patriots. Dawson pitched all eight innings and racked up 22 strikeouts, including 12 in a row to start the game. Dawson struck out the side in six of the eight innings and got at least two strikeouts in all eight innings. Dawson didn’t give up her first hit in the game until the top half of the seventh inning.

“She was on fire today,” Rollan said.

There wasn’t a lot of traffic on the base paths by either team in game one. The Patriots picked up two walks over the course of the first three innings and didn’t get their first hit until Maggie Phelps singled with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning.

After six perfect innings, Dawson allowed back-to-back singles with two outs in the sixth inning, but picked up a strikeout to get out of the inning.

After a scoreless bottom of the seventh inning, the game moved into the eighth inning. Dawson struck out the side, giving way to her offense in the bottom of the inning. Maggie Phelps singled and reached second on an error with two outs in the inning. Aubreigh Maulden singled to left field, driving in the winning run for the Patriots.

“Maggie did a great job getting a hit with two outs,” Rollan said. “That set up Aubreigh to hit a lazy line drive to left center to score the winning run.”

The Patriots finished with five hits, led by Phelps who finished with three hits. Maulden and Dawson each picked up one hit.

Ally Rushing carried over the strong pitching performance in game one into game two. Rushing pitched seven innings and allowed one hit and struck out six batters.

The Patriots gained the early advantage when they scored four runs in the top of the third inning.

Grace Rushing had a two-run double and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Maulden. Ashlyn Atwell scored the first run of the inning on error off the bat of Ally Rushing.

After scoring a run in the fifth on a Grace Rushing single, the Patriots broke the game open in the fifth with three more runs, bringing the score to 8-0. Maulden scored the first run of the inning on an error and Emily Dean touched home on a fielder’s choice. Dawson scored the final run of the inning on an error.

The Patriots finished out the series with four runs in the seventh. Maulden had an RBI single, Ally Rushing drove in a run on a fielder’s choice, Clifton drove in a run on a groundout to the pitcher and Ally Rushing scored the final run on an error.

The Patriots will head to Montgomery on Thursday afternoon for the regional tournament beginning at 1 p.m.

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