After upsetting the No. 1 seed in the semis, the fourth-seeded Glasgow Lady Yellowjackets nearly knocked off another favorite for the district title. But second-seeded Cairo scored the winning run on a walk-off line drive with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh to claim the Class 1 District 3 championship, 5-4, in front of a boisterous home crowd at Glasgow Monday night.

Cairo (24-4) now moves on to the state quarterfinals. They will face District 4 champion Paris (22-6) on Saturday.

With the game tied 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh Cairo mixed power hitting with small-ball strategy to move the potential winning run to third base and another runner to second with no outs. Glasgow coach Allison Foster then intentionally walked Olivia Cross to load the bases and create a force out at the plate. But a hard line drive to center by Chloe Brumley sent the go-ahead run across the plate for the walk-off district win for the Lady Bearcats.

“That’s where a team like Cairo, that has so much experience under their belts, thrives. When they get runners on base and can move them around, they’re pretty much good to go,” Coach Foster said after the game. “We couldn’t execute tonight, and the cards did not fall our way.”

Foster said she knew the game could come down to errors. Glasgow committed one, but it came with the bases loaded in the bottom of the third, allowing Cairo to score two runs.

“There were a few miscues here and there. And we knew that if we made those that was going to be the deciding factor in this game against a very good Cairo team. And it ended up being the deciding factor,” Foster said.

After a first-inning stalemate, the bottom half of Glasgow’s lineup strung together two singles, along with a rare walk from Cairo ace Olivia Cross to score three runs. With one out, number-five hitter Hailey Monnig singled on a line drive to right. She then advanced to second when Cross issued the first of only two walks on the night, putting her counterpart, Glasgow pitcher Brooklynn Morris, on base.

Both advanced a base on heads-up base running before they were driven home by a ground-ball single by senior Hannah DeMint.

Following another single by senior Leah Noll, DeMint stole home to give the Lady Jackets a three-run lead.

“Against New Franklin, we had a little more strategy going into that. But tonight, we just kind of rolled the dice on moving girls around,” Foster said about her team’s aggressive base running. “And they moved each other around. It ended up working out for us. They were able to get some really good reads on the bases. They were able to advance around the bases and get themselves in scoring position on their own.”

Morris was in fine form in the pitching circle and retired Cairo’s next three batters in order in the bottom of the second. But an inning later, a two-out single followed by a pair of walks gave the Lady Cats some momentum. That’s when the lone error on the night occurred, and Cairo took the lead.

The Cairo lineup found its rhythm in the bottom of the fifth, scoring two more runs on two singles and an RBI-double by Brumley to go up 4-3.

Glasgow dug deep and tied the game in the top of the sixth with two singles, again coming from the bottom of the order.

“They stepped up big-time tonight,” Foster said. “It’s games like this when you can count on them. And those girls at the bottom of the order have executed in district play in the past, and I knew that they would tonight. And they did. They stepped up into that role tonight.”

Morris singled onto base with an infield hit and advanced to scoring position on a bunt by DeMint. Noll then singled on a liner to center field to send Morris home for the tying run.

“I knew we had to get that run across the plate,” Foster said. “I knew we had some good batters coming up that we could potentially pull ahead in the seventh inning.”

The game remained tied until the walk-off run in the bottom of the final inning.

“I could not have asked for our girls to come out and do much better than they did tonight,” Foster said after the game. “I can’t complain about how my girls performed. I thought that game could have gone either way.”

Glasgow drove in three of its four runs on eight hits with two walks. Noll led the team, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Halle Fuemmeler also had two hits in three at-bats and walked once. Leadoff hitter Karah Graves, Monnig, Morris, and DeMint each recorded a hit. DeMint also drove in two runs and scored once.

Glasgow’s junior ace pitched a complete game, allowing four runs (3 earned) on nine hits and four walks. Morris also struck out two batters.

“Brooklynn is really not a big strikeout pitcher,” explained Coach Foster. “She did a really good job of creating outs tonight. Her defense worked behind her. She created a lot of pop-outs. We didn’t have to field a ton of grounders tonight. That has a lot to do with the spin on her ball. That’s just the kind of pitcher that she is. She’s got a lot of movement on her pitches. I can’t wait to have her back next year.”

Cross pitched a gem for Cairo. It was the second all-state caliber pitcher the Glasgow lineup had to face in a row. The junior struck out a game-high 13 batters while allowing four runs (3 earned) on eight hits with only two walks.

Against New Franklin on Friday, Glasgow struck out 16 times against senior Brynn Belstle but still managed to manufacture runs in a 4-2 semifinal win.

“Both are all-state pitchers, definitely,” Foster said. “Both probably have college careers ahead of them. It definitely says a lot about us as a team that we are able to put the ball in play, get good hits, move girls around, and bunt girls over in situations against all-state pitching. Cairo also had an all-state catcher behind the plate. For us to be able to execute at those times says a lot about us and our growth as a team.”

The loss ends the season for the Lady Jackets with a record of 16-8 overall. It also marks the end of high school careers for seniors Hannah DeMint and Leah Noll.

“They are just phenomenal human beings in general. I have never coached a group of seniors that has had that good of an attitude all the way through high school,” Foster said. “They have both been extremely coachable. They always stepped up. They were very good teammates, and we will miss them very much next year.”

Even with losing their two seniors, the Lady Jackets will bring back four juniors, three sophomores, and three freshmen next year, including their ace pitcher.

“We’ll be back,” Foster said. “I think a district championship is in our very near future.”