April 22, 2018
The No. 10 ranked East Central Community College Lady Warriors swept a softball doubleheader at Northwest Mississippi Community College, Saturday, April 21, and in the process earned the right to host a first-round playoff series.
The Lady Warriors won the opener 10-0, and scored eight runs late for a 10-6 comeback win in the nightcap at Ranger Softball Field in Senatobia.
With the wins, East Central assured itself of hosting a first-round best two-of-three Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges playoff series next Friday and Saturday, April 27-28, at the Softball Park in Decatur. The opponent will be decided after all league play concludes on Monday.
The East Central Lady Warriors are now 32-10 on the season and 19-9 in MACJC play. The Northwest Rangers are 19-19 overall and 11-15 in the league.
In the opener, East Central blew open a 4-0 lead with three runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings.
Lady Warriors Madalyn McMahon of Neshoba Central and Shelby Walters of Northwest Rankin each doubled in runs early in the game. Kayla Beckham out of Neshoba Central singled in a pair of runs in the sixth. Ali Gartman of Loyd Star doubled in a run in the seventh, and three batters later Walters doubled in two more.
Walters had three two-base hits in the game and four RBI. Walters and Marlee Parkes out of Nanih Waiya were both three-for-three at the plate in game one.
Kaitlyn Oswalt picked up the win in the circle. The Heritage Academy (Columbus) product gave up just five hits and struck out three in seven innings of work.
In the nightcap, East Central erased a 5-2 deficit with six runs in the top of the sixth and two more in the seventh for the 10-6 win.
The Lady Warriors got a big day from Kenyatta Moore of Philadelphia, who was three-for-four at the plate and knocked in four runs, including three on a bases-clearing triple. McMahon and Cassie Obman of Caledonia each drove in two runs in the win.
Mackenzie Rousseau (Vanderbilt Catholic, Houma, La.) got the win, scattering nine hits.
All playoff games April 27-28 can be heard on WKOZ Cruisin 98.3 or via audio stream and live stream video at www.eccc.edu/eccc-media.
