Ethel reached the MHSAA 1A softball quarterfinals with series sweeps of Sacred Heart and McEvans, outscoring their opponents 67-6 in four games.
“We hit really well,” said Coach Tyler McKinley.
It began with an 11-hit attack against Sacred Heart, including seven doubles, that resulted in a 14-4 victory. Jasmine Johnson and Jaidyn Sims each had two doubles, Elena White a single and a double, and Lizzy Rae Ellington and Aubrey Blaine a double each. Johnson drove in four runs and White's double in the fifth inning plated the game-ending run.
Ethel had only six hits in completing the sweep with a 15-1 victory, but benefitted from seven walks. Ellington had a single and a triple and Macee Simmons a single and double.
The Lady Tigers followed that with 16-0 and 22-1 victories over McEvans in five-inning games. Johnson had a homer and four doubles in the series and Makenzie Miller homered in the first game.
White, a seventh grader, was the winning pitcher in all four games, including seven no-hit innings, with 14 strikeouts against McEvans.
“She's a 12-year-old pitching to high school kids,” McKinley said.
Mya Barksdale finished the second game with three hitless innings.
With a very young team, Ethel struggled for much of the season, but came on strong in the playoffs.
“We seem to be figuring out some things,” McKinley said. “We’re getting a lot of game experience which should help us in the next series.”
As the third place team from Region 5-1A, Ethel was the lower seed in both series. Sacred Heart was second place in 8-1A and McEvans won 6-1A.
The going will get much tougher in the next round when Ethel faces 7-1A winner Stringer, which swept French Camp, the team that took second in 5-1A, one place ahead of Ethel. The series begins at Ethel Friday, with games 2 and 3, in necessary, at Stringer Saturday.
