Lee’s no-hitter carries Dolls to Rumble title|[6/20/05]

Published 12:00 am Monday, June 20, 2005

An answered e-mail last week handed the Vicksburg Diamond Dolls an ace of a pitcher for the Rumble on the River fast-pitch softball tournament.

Heidi Lee, from Delhi, La., hurled a no-hitter, lifting the Diamond Dolls to a 5-0 win over the Greenwood Redhots for the 16-and-under division title Sunday evening at Bazinsky Park.

For Lee, who just joined the Vicksburg-based summer team prior to the weekend, it was her third win of the tournament. She wasn’t overpowering but it was enough.

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“My dad and I knew of her through high school because we played Franklin Academy during the fall,” said Diamond Dolls first baseman Lauren Johnson, who plays for Porters Chapel. “We were hoping to have her at the beginning of the (summer) but she couldn’t make it. I reached her on the internet, and she said she could play this weekend. She really helped out our pitching.”

Lee kept the Redhots cold with 11 pop outs through four innings. The perfect game ended in the fifth when she walked Kristi Vail.

The closest Greenwood came to a hit was a liner that fell in safely, but Vicksburg right fielder Kaci Flaharty made a quick throw to Ashley Sykes covering second for a fielder’s choice.

Offensively, the Diamond Dolls got two runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth.

Flaharty loaded the bases with a bunt hit in the fourth. Christine Johnston then drew a bases-loaded walk to snap the scoreless tie, and a wild pitch brought Katie Sanders in for a 2-0 lead.

In the fifth, Sarah Kerut and Johnson both singled and scored on Sykes’ triple. Kelly McGee capped the rally with a single up the middle, scoring Kaleigh Harris for a 5-0 lead.