April 18, 2019
For the second time in three days, East Central Community College swept a nationally ranked opponent in MACJC softball doubleheader action. The Lady Warriors took down the No. 16 ranked Northeast Lady Tigers 13-0 and 7-4 in 10 innings in action Wednesday, April 17, in Booneville.
On Monday, East Central swept No. 10 Co-Lin in a doubleheader in Wesson.
With the wins, East Central moves to 19-11 overall and 12-6 in league play. The Lady Warriors are now tied for fourth in the league standings with five conference doubleheaders to play. Northeast falls to 27-11 overall and 12-6 in the league.
The road continues to be kind to East Central, as the Lady Warriors are now 16-6 overall away from home and 11-1 in MACJC games.
East Central took control of the opener early with five runs in the top of the first inning. The Lady Warriors took advantage of two walks and two Northeast errors to grab the lead. Freshman left fielder Olivia Houston (Northwest Rankin) had an RBI triple, freshman first baseman Kailee Swindle (Hattiesburg, Presbyterian Christian School) brought in a run with a fielder’s choice ground ball, and freshman designated hitter EmilySue Parkman (Lake) drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to right field.
A solo home run by Houston in the top of the second and an RBI single by sophomore shortstop Annika Jones (Leake Academy) in the fourth extended the lead to 7-0.
The Lady Warriors closed out the run-rule game in the top of the fifth with a six-run inning. The big blow was a grand slam to center field off the bat of Jones, her second round-tripper of the season.
East Central outhit the Lady Tigers 10-5, with Jones, Houston, Parkman, and freshman second baseman Kaylee Webb (Ruston, La.) all getting two hits.
Freshman Jesalyn Jarrette (Baskin, La., Franklin Academy) pitched the shutout over Northeast, giving up just the five hits and striking out four batters.
After battling two hours of rain delays during the afternoon and evening, the resilient Lady Warriors had to play 10 innings to win the nightcap, and having to come from behind to do so.
Trailing 2-0 after three innings of play, East Central got single runs in the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh innings to take a 4-2 lead. Swindle produced an RBI single in the fourth and Jones plated a run with a bunt single in the fifth to tie the game 2-2. The Lady Warriors scored on an error in the sixth and an RBI double by freshman catcher Anna McNeer (Canton Academy) in the seventh.
It took Northeast only three batters to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh with a walked batter, triple, and fielder’s choice.
Neither team could score until the top of the 10th, when three runs crossed the plate for East Central. One run scored on an error, and freshman right fielder MaKenzie Barnett (Neshoba Central) and freshman center fielder Parker Breland (Union) each had RBI singles.
McNeer and Webb each had two of East Central’s 10 hits in the game.
Freshman Braelyn Boykin (Mize) went the first six innings in the circle, and Jarrette pitched the final four to get the win.
East Central now returns home for a rain makeup with Holmes beginning at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 19. Hinds visits the Softball Park in Decatur for a doubleheader that begins at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24.
Most East Central home softball games can be heard on WKOZ “Cruisin” 98.3 or watched via live stream video at www.eccc.edu/eccc-media.
