<p>For six innings, a third straight sectional softball championship was right there within Edinburgh’s grasp.</p>
<p>It took half an inning for it to slip well out of reach.</p>
<p>A pair of Lancer errors to start the seventh inning opened the door for Indianapolis Lutheran, who turned a scoreless tie into a 7-0 victory and a spot in the Class A regional.</p>
<p>"They got fortunate to get two on off a couple of errors," Edinburgh coach Stephen Clark said. "That put the pressure on us, and we just tightened up and didn’t follow through, and they got the hits after."</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
<p>Consecutive miscues by Edinburgh (14-8) put Katie Hopkins and Kaylee Gregory on base to start the final frame. Following a sacrifice bunt, Hailey Black broke the deadlock with a two-run double to left. Rylee Morris then singled and Goose Moore plated two more with a double.</p>
<p>Edinburgh’s third error of the inning allowed Moore to come home, and Lutheran hurler Miranda Dunn added an RBI two-bagger and scored the final run on an infield hit by Hopkins.</p>
<p>The Lancers had a few good chances to push runs across earlier in the game but couldn’t cash in on any of them.</p>
<p>They managed three hits against Lutheran hurler Miranda Dunn in the second inning, but the Saints erased the lead runner on a double play and Dunn escaped the jam with a strikeout.</p>
<p>Dunn extinguished another threat in the fourth. Base hits by Maddi Clark and Paige Burton gave the Lancers runners on the corners with one out, but a pair of strikeouts kept the game scoreless.</p>
<p>"We had a few miscues at the plate, a few opportunities that we couldn’t execute on," Stephen Clark said. "If one of those things hits the ground it’s a different game, because you’re up instead of even.</p>
<p>"If we get that base hit, that breaks the floodgates open and puts a lot of pressure on them."</p>
<p>Lutheran (12-15) had a golden opportunity of its own in the top of the fifth when the leadoff batter reached on a three-base error, but Clark fanned the next two hitters and center fielder Paige Burton hauled in the third out at the wall.</p>
<p>"I just think about how I want to get it done for my teammates," Maddi Clark said of coming through in that situation. "I want to do it for them, and I know that they’ll have my back."</p>
<p>Edinburgh had one final scoring chance when Maddi Clark opened the bottom of the sixth with a base hit and got all the way to third when the base was uncovered on a sacrifice bunt by Vanessa McManaway. But Dunn again rose to the challenge, retiring the next two hitters.</p>
<p>She finished the day with 12 strikeouts.</p>
<p>Clark had shut the Saints down prior to the seventh-inning avalanche, striking out six without a walk and allowing just two singles by Morris, who was stranded at second in both cases.</p>
<p>The last inning didn’t go the way the Lancers would have hoped, but Maddi Clark doesn’t seem to have many regrets about a four-year run that included a regional title last season. She’ll continue her playing career at Indiana Wesleyan.</p>
<p>"It’s definitely been a lot of fun," she said. "The past few years I’ve had a lot of fun with all of my teammates, and I can’t wait to come back next year and watch them whenever I have a chance."</p>
