SULPHUR โ Brusly softball couldn't catch a break against North DeSoto.
Down 1-0 in the top of the seventh with two outs, the Panthers' Marnet Jackson knocked a fly ball to right field. The Griffins' right fielder leaned back and grabbed the ball out of the sky for the final out.
The final out summed up Brusly's day offensively. The Panthers put bat to ball throughout the game, but every grounder, lineout and fly ball led to an out.
North DeSoto's Macie Cameron shut them down and pitched a complete-game no-hitter. Her performance helped top-seeded North DeSoto defeat No. 3 Brusly in the Division II nonselect state title game 1-0 on Sunday at Frasch Park.
The win marks the second straight title for North DeSoto (27-8).
"They made every play," Brusly coach Beau Bouvier said. "We didn't give them the game. They earned it."
Cameron struck out the side to start the game. After North DeSoto's Carsyn Curtis doubled to lead off the bottom of the first, Cameron knocked a two-out double to right field for the game's only run.
Brusly (26-7) managed just five baserunners off four walks and a hit batter. Panthers pitcher Abigail Heidbrink struck out six and allowed five hits across six innings.
The Panthers nearly swung momentum in the third inning. Emma Guarisco led off the third with a walk. After a sacrifice bunt, Zoe Fabre then drew a four-pitch walk to put runners at first and second.
After a fly out, Lilly Albarez thought she was hit by a pitch and trotted to first base and the runner on first went to second, but the home plate umpire ruled she wasn't hit.
As Albarez walked to first, the catcher threw the ball back to the Griffins' pitcher. Fabre, the runner at first, left base early and didn't return to first after the pitcher had control of the ball, triggering a "look-back" rule that led to the final out of the frame.
"It is what it is," Bouvier said. "There's not much I can say on that."
In the bottom of the fifth, Brusly ran into trouble after a walk and a single put two runners on. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners into scoring position. The next batter hit into a fielder's choice, but the Panthers shortstop threw home to keep a run off the board, loading the bases with just one out.
Brusly escaped the inning after Cameron hit a grounder to Emma Loupe. She flipped the ball to the second baseman, who made the throw to first in time for an inning-ending double play.
The Panthers went down in order in the final frame. The team graduates four seniors.
"They reset the standard for the young ones to keep on fighting," Bouvier said.