Softball rivalry action set for Saturday in Decatur as EMCC Lions travel to preseason No. 2 East Central
Riding the momentum gained during last weekend's successful season-opening tournament showing at the Pearl River-hosted Wildcat Invitational, the East Mississippi Community College softball team will visit preseason second-ranked and reigning national runner-up East Central Community College Saturday afternoon in Decatur. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at the Softball Park on the ECCC campus.
SCOOBA – Riding the momentum gained during last weekend's successful season-opening tournament showing at the Pearl River-hosted Wildcat Invitational, the East Mississippi Community College softball team will visit preseason second-ranked and reigning national runner-up East Central Community College Saturday afternoon in Decatur. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at the Softball Park on the ECCC campus.
A week ago in Poplarville, head coach Kyndall White's 3-1 EMCC Lions bounced back from a 12-1 Friday setback to preseason No. 10 LSU Eunice to notch victories over Baton Rouge CC (8-3), Calhoun CC (12-1) and host Pearl River CC (8-5).
Batting .347 as a team last weekend, East Mississippi was led at the plate by freshman shortstop Averi Pender, who batted .667 (8-for-12) with two home runs, two doubles, seven RBIs and six runs scored over the two days. The Union product hit a pair of three-run homers the same day to help lead the Lions to Saturday wins over Calhoun and PRCC.
Scooba native Blake Rigdon, a sophomore outfielder, also batted .667 for the weekend with six hits in nine at-bats, including a triple, two runs scored and two runs batted in. Sophomore Emily Patrick, of Senatobia, hit .417 (5-for-12) and knocked in a pair of runs.
In the circle during EMCC's season-opening tournament action, sophomore right-hander Chandler Ellis, of Vicksburg, picked up a complete-game win and earned a save in compiling a 0.78 ERA during her two outings. Left-handers Zoie LaVergne and Ciara Stewart, a Bruce High School product, recorded the Lions' other two pitching victories last weekend. Freshman Jordan Self also pitched well with a 2.33 ERA during her two relief appearances.
East Mississippi will be back in tournament action next weekend (Feb. 19-20) at the Rush Invitational hosted by Meridian Community College. With two-day tournament action set to be played at Tommy McDonald Field in Highland Park, EMCC is slated to meet host MCC at 3 p.m. and Shelton State CC at 5 p.m. on Friday. The next day in Meridian, the Lions are scheduled to take on preseason fourth-ranked NJCAA Division I power Chipola College (Fla.) at 9 a.m. followed by a 3 p.m. contest against Copiah-Lincoln CC.