March 30, 2018
The No. 6 ranked East Central Community College Lady Warriors came back to win game two after losing in walk-off fashion in the opener of an MACJC softball doubleheader at Holmes Community College Friday, March 30, at Lady Bulldog Softball Field in Goodman.
The Lady Warriors are now 23-7 overall on the season and 10-6 in MACJC play, while the Holmes Lady Bulldogs are 13-13 overall and 6-10 in league play.
The Lady Warriors lost a heartbreaker in game one. After battling back from a 4-2 deficit in the top of the seventh inning to grab a 6-4 lead, Holmes would win the game 8-6 on a two-out walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the frame.
East Central went into the last inning trailing by two runs. Three straight singles by Kayla Beckham (Neshoba Central), Cassie Obman (Caledonia), and Eva Scott (Burleson, Texas) after two outs brought in one run to make the score 4-3. Then Ali Gartman of Loyd Star stepped to the plate and hit a three-run home run—her fifth of the season—over the left field fence to give the Lady Warriors the 6-4 lead.
After loading the bases in the bottom of the seventh on an error, double, and walk, Holmes’ Emily Littlejohn hit the second pitch she saw out of the ballpark for the win.
East Central’s other two runs in the game came in the top of the third on a solo home run from Shelby Walters of Northwest Rankin, also her fifth, and a sacrifice fly from Obman that scored Madalyn McMahon of Neshoba Central, who had singled. The runs gave the Lady Warriors a 2-1 lead at the time.
East Central out-hit Holmes 13-9.
Kaitlyn Oswalt of Heritage Academy in Columbus took the loss
East Central came back to win the nightcap 7-2.
An RBI single from Scott in the top the first got East Central on the scoreboard first in game two. The Lady Warriors increased that lead to 3-0 after two innings. McMahon’s sacrifice fly brought in one run and Kenyatta Moore out of Philadelphia High School stole home after getting on base on an error, one of three by the Lady Bulldogs in the inning.
Holmes loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the second, but could only get one run across the plate as Lady Warrior pitcher Mackenzie Rousseau got a strikeout followed by two straight groundouts.
The Lady Warriors added another run in the top of the fourth on a fielder’s choice from McMahon, scoring Tagen Remmel of Clinton who started the inning with a walk. A Gartman single in the top of the fifth pushed the East Central lead to 5-1.
The lead grew to 7-1 in the top of the sixth when two more Lady Warrior runs scored on a couple more Holmes’ errors. Holmes added a run in the seventh to make the final score 7-2.
Rousseau (Houma, La., Vanderbilt Catholic) picked up the win in the circle.
The Lady Warriors return home next week for two MACJC doubleheaders. East Central hosts Copiah-Lincoln Community College on Wednesday, April 4, at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. and then Northeast Mississippi Community College will visit the Softball Park in Decatur on Saturday, April 7, for games at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Most home softball games can be heard on WKOZ Cruisin 98.3 or via audio stream and live stream video at www.eccc.edu/eccc-media.
