March 28, 2017
East Central’s Madalyn McMahon slides safely ahead of the throw for an inside-the-park home run in the game one win over Copiah-Lincoln. (EC Photo)
One-hit pitching by the nation’s winningest pitcher and three home runs powered the No. 12 East Central Community College Lady Diamond Warrior softball team to an 11-0 game one win over the Copiah-Lincoln Community College Lady Wolves Tuesday, March 28, at the Softball Park in Decatur.
East Central won the first game by run-rule in five innings, before taking game two 7-4.
With the wins, the Lady Diamond Warriors improved to 28-4 on the season and 13-3 in MACJC league play. Co-Lin dropped to 9-17 overall and 4-10 in league play.
The Lady Diamond Warriors got the scoring started in game one in the bottom of the second. An inside-the-park home run off the bat of Madalyn McMahon out of Neshoba Central drove in three runs. Kayla Beckham, also out of Neshoba Central, followed that with a solo shot to center field.
ECCC scored three more in the bottom of the third on RBI singles by Shelby Walters out of Northwest Rankin and McMahon, and a double from Abby Winstead from Sebastopol.
East Central added four more runs in the fourth inning on a two-run home run from Cassie Obman from Caledonia, and two more on a Co-Lin error and wild pitch.
The Lady Diamond Warriors pounded out 16 hits in game one. Winstead and Obman had three hits each.
Freshman Kaitlyn Oswalt, who prepped at Heritage Academy in Columbus, threw a one-hit shutout for her 16th win of the year, the most among National Junior College Athletic Association Division II softball pitchers.
The Lady Diamond Warriors struck first in game two, scoring a run in the bottom of the first on an Obman RBI single. Co-Lin would tie the game 1-1 in the fourth on a home run by Diana Hobgood.
Tagen Remmel out of Clinton broke the tie with one out in the bottom of the fourth with a home run to left center to give ECCC a 2-1 lead. In the fifth, Walters drove in a run with a single and then scored on a three-base error by the right fielder to extend the East Central lead to 4-1.
East Central moved the lead to 7-1 in the sixth on another RBI single by Walters and a Co-Lin error. Co-Lin would cut the final margin to 7-4 with three runs in the top of the seventh before Oswalt came on in relief of Mackenzie Rousseau to pick up a save.
Rousseau, out of Vanderbilt Catholic in Houma, La., picked up the game two win, her 12th of the season.
ECCC will now travel to Fulton to face No. 12 Itawamba Community College on Saturday, April 1, at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
The Lady Diamond Warriors return home Wednesday, April 5, to face Meridian Community College in a doubleheader. Games are set for 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. at the Softball Park in Decatur.
