Two of the top teams in the state played each other Tuesday in a key Region 2-AAAA game: the fourth-ranked Starr's Mill Lady Panthers and the sixth-ranked Whitewater Lady Wildcats.

And, by the end of the night, only one could make the claim that they are the real cats in town, at least for the time being: the Lady Wildcats.

Whitewater handed host Starr's Mill its first loss of the season, 6-0, to take first place in the region.

The victory raised Whitewater’s overall record to 6-1 and kept it undefeated in the region (3-0), one game ahead of Starr’s Mill (8-1 overall, 2-1 in the region). Whitewater coach Stacey Smith said the victory was her team’s
most important of the season thus far.

“Definitely, [it’s] the biggest win so far,” Smith said. “We went back and forth and back and forth with Starr’s Mill through the whole season [last year]. This is a nice win to start off the region [schedule] early on.”

Clutch hitting and a brilliant performance by sophomore pitcher Whitney Toler were the difference for Whitewater.

All but one of Whitewater's runs against Starr’s Mill came with two outs.

Toler pitched the best game of her young career: a two-hit, complete-game shutout. She struck out four and walked two.

She has given up only three runs so far this season. All three came in a 3-0 loss to McIntosh in the “Up the Creek” tournament two weeks ago.

“Whitney pitched really well tonight,” Smith said. “When we came into this game, our goal was to actually hit the ball and try to score some runs for Toler, which we did. She’s been keeping us in a lot of ball games. She’s had a lot of confidence through the season thus far.”

Toler outpitched Starr’s Mill ace Paige Peurifoy, who struck out 10, walked four and allowed eight hits and six runs in her worst outing of the season.

Whitewater scored the only run it would need in the top of the third inning.

McKenzie Woody hit a one-out infield single and later scored on Jamie Saunders’ infield single that dribbled just past the pitcher’s circle.

Whitewater added two more runs in the fifth, both with two outs.

Saunders (3-for-4) hit a two-out double that took one bounce off the right-field fence, and Tess Echols walked to place runners on first and second. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position.

Starr’s Mill needed one more out to escape the inning unscathed, but a throwing error by the catcher on a pick-off attempt at third and Haley Richards’ RBI single to center field made it 3-0.

Back-to-back run-scoring hits in the sixth increased Whitewater’s lead: Ashley Schwab (2-for-3) hit a two-out, two-run double to right field, and Saunders followed with an RBI single up the middle to complete the scoring.

Starr’s Mill stranded six runners.

The Lady Panthers’ threatened in the seventh, with runners on first and second and one out — Peurifoy and Chesley Savage both walked — but Toler closed the game by recording a strikeout and inducing a slow grounder back to the pitcher’s circle.