Kosciusko advanced to the quarterfinals of the MHSAA 4A softball tournament with a sweep of South Pontotoc Monday and Tuesday 5-4 and 3-0. The Lady Whippets will play either Choctaw Central or Yazoo City, beginning Friday.
South Pontotoc was the state’s top-ranked 4A team with a 10-0 record in 2-4A.
With the first game tied 4-4, Gracie Williams led off the bottom of the seventh for the Lady Whippets with a single. She moved up to second on a bunt by Emma Rush and to third on a ground out by Alexandra West. After two intentional walks loaded the bases, Mary Kimble Price delivered the winning run with a drive off the fence.
“Emmagail Kelley pitched a great game. Competed really well against a great team,” said Coach Tony Terry.
She went the distance, allowing seven hits. Price and Campbell Blaine each had two hits for the Lady Whippets.
Price, an eighth grader, pitched a two-hitter in the second game. Kosciusko scored runs in the first, fifth and sixth. Campbell Blaine had an RBI and scored a run.
In the opening round, Kosciusko had 27 hits, 11 for extra bases, in a sweep of Corinth 11-6 and 10-3.
“We had a really good week,” Terry said. “The pitchers threw the ball well and we made a lot of nice plays defensively. The offense got cranked back up. We had good approaches at the plate which led to our success.”
Kelly Hood led the offense in the 11-6 game with a homer, two singles and a walk, three RBIs and four runs scored. Makynlee Dickerson had a home run and three RBIs, Blaine singled and tripled with three RBIs and Williams had two hits and two RBIs.
The Lady Whippets jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the second game and coasted to the victory. A 15-hit attack featured eight doubles. Williams had two, Hood, Dickerson, Blaine, Price, Rush and Lizzie Kate Jones one each.
Kelley and Price shared the pitching in both games.
Kosciusko was second in 4-4A and Corinth third in 1-4A.
Kosciusko defeated Choctaw Central, third place in 4-4A twice, 18-7 and 5-4. Yazoo County won 3-4A.
