MURFREESBORO - Woodlawn saw a two-run lead slip away over the final two innings as the Lady Bears dropped a heartbreaker to the Horatio Lady Lions, 4-3, in the Class 2A Region 4 championship game Saturday at Murfreesboro.Woodlawn (26-5), which fell to take Region 4’s no. 2 seed into this week’s Class 2A state tournament, will face the East Poinsett County Lady Warriors (19-5), the no. 3 seed from Region 2, at 10 a.m. Thursday at Palestine-Wheatley High School. Should the Lady Bears win, they would advance to the state quarterfinals to play the Cotter-McCrory winner at 3 p.m. Friday at Palestine-Wheatley High School.Saturday’s regional championship game was a matchup featuring the no. 1 seeds from the 7-2A conference (Horatio) and the 8-2A conference (Woodlawn).It was the third time this year the two teams have faced one another with the Lady Lions taking both previous games. Horatio won 2-1 in a tournament game on March 14 and 10-4 in a non-conference game at Horatio on April 9.It looked as though the Lady Bears were going to snap that streak against the Lady Lions on Saturday. Anniston Wright, after getting aboard on a fielder’s choice in the top of the third, moved to third on Maeley Simmons’ single and before scorin on Jaci Hoyt’s bunt, giving Woodlawn a 1-0 lead.The Lady Lions answered in the bottom of the third when, with two out, a batter was hit by a pitch and then scored on a follow-up single, making it 1-1.The Lady Bears regained the lead in the top of the fourth. Kendall Tooke started it with a double to right and then crossed home on Laci Rauls’ single. Addison Holland followed with a hit one out later to drive in Rauls, extending the Woodlawn lead to 3-1.The score remained that way until the bottom of the sixth when the Lady Lions started the inning with two singles and a walk, plating two runs to tie the game, 3-3.Woodlawn threatened to regain the lead...
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