February 23, 2018
East Central freshman second baseman Macy Brabham steals home in the third inning of game one against Coastal Alabama-North. (EC Photo)
The No. 10 East Central Community College Lady Warrior softball team stretched its winning streak to nine games with a doubleheader sweep of the Coastal Alabama-North Lady Eagles Friday, Feb. 23, at the Softball Park in Decatur.
East Central won the opener 11-6 and the nightcap 9-1.
It was the fifth annual “Pink” Cancer Awareness Game for the ECCC Lady Warriors, who wore pink jerseys.
In the first game of the doubleheader, East Central ran out to an 8-0 lead after four innings.
The Lady Warriors got a run in the first on an RBI double off the left field wall from Cassie Obman of Caledonia. East Central scored again in the bottom of the second when freshman Macy Brabham of Brookhaven stole home.
East Central extended the lead to 8-0 in the bottom of the fourth. The Lady Warriors loaded the bases with no outs and scored two runs on passed balls. Sophomore Kayla Beckham out of Neshoba Central then stepped to the plate and slammed a three-run homer. An RBI single by Marlee Parkes of Nanih Waiya ended the scoring in the six-run inning.
The Lady Warriors were one out from a run-rule win in the top of the fifth when Coastal’s Leondria Parker hit a grand slam. The Lady Eagles added two more runs in the inning to close the gap to 8-6, thanks in part to a couple of infield errors by East Central.
East Central added three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Sophomore Eva Scott (Burleson, Texas, Centennial) doubled and was brought home by a long single off the bat of sophomore Ali Gartman, who prepped at Loyd Star. Back-to-back singles by Parkes and sophomore Shelby Walters of Northwest Rankin brought in two more runs for the final 11-6 win.
Parkes and Obman both had three-hit games.
Kaitlyn Oswalt out of Heritage Academy in Columbus picked up her fifth win of the season against one loss.
East Central got a quick start in game two as well, with two runs in the bottom of the first. Walters doubled and eventually scored on a passed ball. A sacrifice fly by Scott scored Beckham, who had tripled. The Lady Warriors added a run in the second inning on an error.
East Central stretched the lead to 4-0 in the third inning when Madalyn McMahon of Neshoba Central led off with a double and was brought home by a Scott single. A McMahon home run in the fourth gave the Lady Warriors a 6-0 lead.
Coastal pushed a run across in the top of the sixth to make the score 6-1. The Lady Warriors ended it by run-rule in the bottom of the inning. Sophomore Reagen Jacobs (Denham Springs, La.) singled home a run and then sophomore Melanie McMillan of Lake hit a walk-off, two-run homer for the final 9-1 score.
Mackenzie Rousseau (Houma, La., Vanderbilt Catholic) moved to 6-0 on the season with the win in the circle.
With the sweep, East Central improved to 11-1 on the season. Coastal Alabama-North is now 3-14. The Lady Warriors also swept the Lady Eagles on Feb. 6 in Monroeville, Ala.
East Central is scheduled to host Calhoun Community College on Sunday, Feb. 25, at 1 and 3 p.m.
The Lady Warriors will travel to Ellisville on Wednesday, Feb. 28, to face No. 2 ranked Jones County Junior College in MACJC conference games at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., before hosting East Mississippi Community College in more MACJC action Saturday, March 3, at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Softball Park in Decatur.
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.
