The No. 5-ranked perrinnial powerhouse known as Baker High School faced Daphne in their quest for a state title that eluded them last year, and will continue that search this weekend after sweeping the Lady Trojans 3-1 and 2-1 in eight innings Saturday afternoon in the Second Round Sub-State playoffs behind the pitching of Megan Haruck and Monica Meadows, some timely hitting and a little help from the host team.

Harbuck pitched a no-hitter in outdueling Daphne ace Sara Sigrest in the first game and Meadows tossed a five-hitter in the second game which ended when Daphne shortstop Hanna Henry’s two-out throwing error allowed the winning run to score.

“I have to give them credit for the things that they did,” Daphne coach L.T. Yelding said of the Honeybees. “They came up and they made plays when they had to make plays. They got hits when they had to get hits. Every time we tried to get something going, to get back in the game, they were able to respond, come back and kinda take the momentum back a little bit, so it’s a credit on their part.

“As far as our team is concerned, the girls never gave up. They played tough; they played hard. It was just (a case of not) getting the timely hit when we needed it. (Baker) had a couple of plays there, in the first game especially, where they took hits away from us and on one of (Baker’s) hits, we just didn’t make a play on the ball, a hard-hit ball, which led to their (first) two runs.”

The Honeybees, who were 7-0 against Daphne this year, will carry a sterling 75-6 record to the state tournament at Montomery’s Lagoon Park.

DHS second baseman’s Erin Vaughn’s fielding error to start the bottom of the eighth led to the game- and series-winning run. Kelsey Donaldson reached first on the miscue and was sacrificed to second by Meadows. Meghan Wallace lined out to Lady Trojans center fielder Haley Sirmon, then scored when Henry overthrew Sigrest at first.

Daphne took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning on back-to-back one-out singles by Henry and Sigrest and Meadows’ wild pitch on her next delivery to Jillian Stringfellow. Courtesy runner Jessie Lowry scored the run.

Meadows pitched out of a two-outs, bases-loaded situation an inning earlier by getting Amber Henson to pop out to Honeybees shortstop Jessica Rogers. Meadows also stranded two baserunners in the top of the eighth following two-out singles by Anna Harmon and Hanna Campbell.

Donaldson also scored Baker’s first run after leading off the bottom of the fourth with a double to left-center field. Ground outs by Meadows to third and Meghan Wallace to shortstop moved Donaldson around to and across home plate.

Freshman left-hander Campbell also pitched out of a bases-loaded situation in the sixth and stranded two Honeybees runners in the seventh to force the extra inning. In the sixth, Kandace Breland led off with an infield single and went to third on Krista Rodden’s ground single to center and a passed ball, but was tagged out in a rundown betwen third and home after Campbell fielded Donaldson’s grounder.

Rodden took third and Donaldwon second during the rundown, then Campbell carefully unintentionally walked Meadows to load the bases. Campbell retired Wallace on an infield fly rule pop-up to Vaughn and Laird via a ground-out to Henson at third.

Campbell struck out one batter and walked one in absorbing the tough loss that dropped her record to 17-6 despite matching Meadows’ five-hit effort. Meadows struck out eight Lady Trojans and walked one to improve to 37-3.

The Lady Trojans managed to score an unearned run in the fifth inning with the help of Laird’s error at first on one of three sacrifice bunts in the inning after Henry led it off by drawing the only walk off Harbuck. Henry scored on Campbell’s safety squeeze bunt. Meadows, playing second base in the opener, then made a leaping catch of Sigrest’s line drive to keep the no-hitter intact.