March 23, 2018
ECCC sophomore shortstop Kayla Beckham keeps her eyes on her long solo home run that gave the Lady Warriors a 10-5 lead in the fifth inning of game one against Baton Rouge. (EC Photo)
The No. 9 ranked East Central Community College Lady Warriors swept the visiting Baton Rouge Community College Lady Bears in non-league softball action Friday, March 23, in a doubleheader that featured nine home runs.
East Central held on to win 10-7 in a windy game one that saw 23 hits and six home runs, three by each team. The Lady Warriors hit two more home runs in a 9-5 game two win.
The doubleheader played at the Softball Park in Decatur was originally scheduled for March 16 but was postponed due to weather.
The Lady Warriors are now 20-6 on the season, while the NJCAA Division I Baton Rouge Lady Bears fell to 6-18.
East Central fell behind 3-0 after Baton Rouge’s first at-bat in game one thanks to two Lady Bear home runs. The Lady Warriors quickly took the lead with five runs of their own in the bottom of the frame. Sophomores Eva Scott (Burleson, Texas, Centennial High School) and Mackenzie Johnson of Nanih Waiya singled in runs, and sophomore Ali Gartman of Loyd Star doubled in a run, while two more runs scored on an error by the leftfielder on Gartman’s hit.
The Lady Warriors extended the lead to 7-3 in the bottom of the second on a solo home run by sophomore Cassie Obman of Caledonia and a sacrifice fly in the third off the bat of sophomore Kayla Beckham of Neshoba Central. After Baton Rouge closed the gap to 7-5 in the fourth, East Central added three insurance runs in the fifth on a two-run home run from sophomore Madalyn McMahon followed by a solo shot from Beckham.
Baton Rouge scored two more runs in the sixth to make the final score 10-7.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Oswalt of Heritage Academy in Columbus got the win in the circle, going the distance and striking out eight batters.
In game two, freshman Macy Brabham of Brookhaven drove in two runs with a single in the bottom of the second to give the Lady Warriors a 2-1 lead.
After Baton Rouge tied the game 2-2 in the top of the third, Obman singled in two more runs in the bottom of the third to help East Central regain the lead 4-2. Sophomore Shelby Walters of Northwest Rankin also singled in two runs in the bottom of the fourth to give the Lady Warriors a 6-2 cushion.
Obman hit her second home run of the afternoon in the bottom of the fifth to extend the lead to 7-2. McMahon joined the home run barrage in the bottom of the sixth with one on base to give the Lady Warriors a 9-2 lead.
Baton Rouge picked up three more runs in the top of the seventh inning to make the final score 9-5.
Sophomore Mackenzie Rousseau (Houma, La., Vanderbilt Catholic) picked up the win in the circle.
East Central will return to MACJC action on Monday, March 26, when the Lady Warriors host Southwest Mississippi Community College at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. The Lady Warriors will travel to Goodman on Thursday, March 29, to face Holmes Community College at 3 p.m. and 5 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.
