April 27, 2021
The East Central Community College Lady Warriors have had a back-and-forth couple of days as the team swept the Coahoma Lady Tigers on the road April 23, before falling to the Northwest Lady Rangers at home April 26, in a pair of games. The 2-2 swing moves ECCC to 12-26 on the year and to 10-16 in MACCC play.
Game One | W, 13-6
The Lady Warriors never trailed in game one against Coahoma as ECCC poured in six runs over the first two frames. The runs came from a three-run homer from Zharia Richardson (Gulfport) in the first, an RBI double from Madison Holton(Brandon), and an RBI double from Richardson in the second.
Coahoma clawed back and plated four in the bottom of the second, but a grand slam from Katelynn Gipson (Decatur) in the fourth negated those runs and pushed the lead to 10-4. Another Richardson RBI double and an error added two more for ECCC, before Holton closed out the game with another RBI single.
Gracey Baucom (Purvis) was the winning pitcher for ECCC as she lasted five innings, allowing eight hits and six runs while striking out seven. Jayce Currie (West Monroe, La.) threw one and two-thirds innings in relief out of the bullpen.
Richardson led the team with four RBIs in the game, while Holton was four-for-five from the plate to lead the way in hits.
Game Two | W, 14-0
Game two was a scoring onslaught for ECCC as the Lady Warriors scored multiple runs in every frame.
The Lady Warriors plated three in the first before a pair of RBI singles from Holton and Gipson in the second, along with a run on an error, added another three, making it 6-0 ECCC.
Holton drove in another two in the third with a single, while four errors and an RBI single from Daja Cowan (Gautier) brought the Lady Warriors' lead to 14-0.
Braelyn Boykin (Mize) got the start and the win as the righthander went four innings, allowing zero runs on one hit, striking out two and walking one.
Holton's two hits and three RBIs were team-highs for ECCC at the dish.
Game One | L, 8-7
The Lady Warriors and Lady Rangers of Northwest went at it on Monday night as the lead changed hands four times in game one.
A solo homer from Sidney Rone (Ethel) in the third was the first run on the board for either team, but Northwest got two in on a couple of singles in the fourth. Mattie Hodge (Laurel) followed Rone's lead and led off the fifth with a solo homer of her own before Kaytie Hillman (Lake) pushed one in on a RBI single. Rone followed with her second homer of the game, this one a three-run shot, making it 6-2, ECCC.
Northwest put up five runs in the top of the sixth with a two-run homer, an RBI single, and an RBI double. Another long ball gave the Lady Rangers another run in the top of the seventh, pushing the NWCC lead to 8-6. An error allowed one ECCC run to cross in the final frame, but that was all the Lady Warriors could get, finalizing the 8-7 loss.
Baucom took the loss for ECCC in the circle. The righthander allowed seven hits and five runs over five innings, striking out one. Kam Hodges (Ethel) and Boykin both threw in relief.
Currie led the Lady Warriors at the plate with three hits, while Rone's four RBIs were a team-best.
Game Two | L, 18-4
The nightcap was a slugfest as the teams combined for 8 home runs. The Lady Rangers put up three runs in the first before the ECCC matched them with three in the bottom half. Northwest added three more in both the second and third, before a solo homer from Richardson in the bottom of the third cut the lead to 9-4.
The Lady Rangers went on to plate seven in the fourth to grow the lead to 16-4, before adding a final two in the fifth.
Rone, Richardson, and Gipson all finished with one hit apiece, while Richardson and Hodge drove in the Lady Warriors only runs.
Up Next
The Lady Warriors round out the season on Wednesday, April 28 as the Southwest Lady Bears travel to Decatur. Games are set for 3 and 5 p.m. and ECCC's sophomore players will be recognized in between the contests. Both games and the sophomore presentation will be live streamed at www.eccclive.com/gold.
