As heard on WHOW and dewittdailynews.com Saturday morning, the Clinton Lady Maroons fell 1-0 to Effingham at the Rantoul Regional final in girls Class 3A softball action.

Trailing 1-0 in the seventh inning, the Lady Maroons loaded the bases with zero outs on a leadoff base hit, then back to back errors by Effingham. A base running mistake cut down the tying run at third base, then a strike out left runners at first and second and two outs.

A bloop on the infield by Ryty Dupont-Barlow was fielded by Effinghams' Madison Weis, who threw out Dupont-Barlow by a half step at first to end the game.

The Lady Maroons also loaded the bases in the fourth inning and failed to capitalize and left a runner in scoring position in the fifth, leaving six runners on base for the game.

Aspyn Taylor returned to the lineup from a broken nose and doubled, finishing 1-for-3. Tori Wilson and Victoria Wayne singled for the Lady Maroons. Bayleigh Holmes and Alexis Estes drew walks.

Estes was also terrific in the circle for Clinton. She went the distance with 12 strikeouts to just one walk, allowing an earned run and four hits.

She was outdone by Effingham sophomore Aly Armstrong, who also went the distance with seven shutout innings, striking out ten and walking two and allowed three hits.

Effingham scored in the fourth inning when Alissa Kersey scored Jenna Wright on an RBI single. Carsyn Fearday was 2-for-3 for the Lady Flaming Hearts.

The Lady Maroons end their season 27-10.