EMCC Lady Lions pick up pair of softball victories over the weekend to begin busy road stretch
Playing five road games in two days, the East Mississippi Community College softball team went 2-3 over the weekend with a Friday doubleheader split at Pearl River and a neutral-site victory over Jefferson Davis Community College Saturday afternoon in Ellisville.
ELLISVILLE – Playing five road games in two days, the East Mississippi Community College softball team went 2-3 over the weekend with a Friday doubleheader split at Pearl River and a neutral-site victory over Jefferson Davis Community College Saturday afternoon in Ellisville.
Postponed three days because of wintry weather conditions and travel concerns earlier in the week, Friday's rescheduled twin bill against the PRCC Lady Wildcats in Poplarville was originally slated for last Tuesday. Though the Lady Lions out-hit Pearl River, 9-5, in the opening game, the visitors claimed a 5-3 victory. EMCC's bats stayed hot in the nightcap with 15 hits during a 9-1 win to earn the split.
Freshman pitcher Logan Smith took the loss at Pearl River for her first collegiate decision, while sophomore Taylor Hackney pitched the final three innings. Anna McCrary led the way offensively with three singles and a run scored for EMCC. Fellow New Hope product Kasey Stanfield and former Clarkdale standout Abby Roberts added a pair of singles each.
In the PRCC nightcap, the Lady Lions utilized a five-run sixth inning and a complete-game pitching effort by Halie Green to earn the decisive victory over the Lady Wildcats. Including solo home runs from Jade Albritton and Kendal Carpenter, EMCC banged out a season-most 15 hits off Pearl River pitching in the second contest. Albritton, who also had a double in the contest, and Meri Morgan Fortune, who stroked a three-run triple to highlight the big sixth inning, led the East Mississippi attack with three hits apiece.
In the circle for the winners, Green allowed just three hits and the one run, while fanning seven and walking two, over the seven innings for her second win of the campaign.
The following day in Ellisville, the Lady Lions posted a 3-1 win over Alabama-based Jefferson Davis CC before dropping both games of a doubleheader (4-3 and 18-0) to the 15th-ranked Lady Bobcats of Jones County Junior College at Community Bank Park.
To begin their Saturday tripleheader, the Lady Lions evenly distributed nine hits in the victory over JDCC. Roberts had two hits for the third straight game, including her first home run of the season coming in the second inning.
In the circle for the day's opener, sophomore left-hander Tori Seymour gave up three hits and struck out three over five innings to get the victory for EMCC. Smith pitched the final two frames to earn a save.
During their first of two Saturday games against the two-time reigning MACJC state champions, the Lady Lions had the Lady Bobcats on the ropes with a 3-2 lead heading into the final inning. However, JCJC plated two runs in the bottom of the seventh to earn the come-from-behind, 4-3 victory. The Lady Bobcats went on to complete the sweep convincingly with an 18-0, five-inning triumph in the nightcap.
The first game of the EMCC-JCJC twin bill featured a pitching duel between Green and Jones County's Samantha Buller. Lady Lion freshman Kristen Mitchell broke a scoreless tie with an RBI double that plated a pair of runs in the fifth. After JCJC's Bailey Stokes homered in the bottom of the fifth to cut the deficit in half, the two teams traded solo tallies the following frame to set up the game-ending dramatics for the home team.
JCJC's Brittany Seale, who hit three home runs on the day including a pair of grand slams in the Lady Bobcats' three victories, led off the seventh inning with a solo blast. A walk to Stokes and back-to-back singles by Kimberly Nilsson and CC Lawn loaded the bases with one out. Rebecca Monceaux then singled to right off Green to complete the comeback victory.
Offensively for the Lady Lions, Brooksville native Corey Dawkins went 3-for-4 while Albritton had two hits and scored a pair of runs. Green went the distance in the EMCC-JCJC opener but dropped to 2-2 on the year as the tough-luck losing pitcher.
In Saturday's nightcap, the host Lady Bobcats benefitted from seven EMCC errors and 10 bases on balls to cruise to the lopsided 18-0 triumph.
In the midst of a stretch playing 10 consecutive games away from home, head coach Kyndall White's 4-5 EMCC Lady Lions head to Hinds for a Tuesday doubleheader before traveling to Tuscaloosa for three neutral-site Friday contests in Shelton State's round-robin tournament.