Kosciusko defeated West Lauderdale 16-6 to wrap up the 4A North State softball championship Friday night.
Easy win? Not at all. The Lady Whippets won it with 10 runs in the top of the ninth, but only after Anna Grace Whitehead pitched out of a bases-loaded-one-out jam in the bottom of the eighth.
The victory wrapped up a sweep following a 5-3 victory one night earlier.
Alexandra West puts the ball in play for Kosciusko.
Kevin Brunt / The Star-Herald
Kosciusko jumped out to a 6-0 lead with four runs in the first and two in the second, but West Lauderdale battled back with two in the second, two in the third, and two more in the sixth, forcing extra innings.
After the Lady Whippets failed to score in the top of the eighth, West Lauderdale began the bottom of the inning with a runner at second under the international rule for extra innings. A sacrifice bunt and two walks loaded the bases.
Caroline Walker grounded back to Whitehead who got the force at home plate. McKinley Maxwell then grounded out, leaving the bases loaded.
Anna Grace Whitehead gets the start and the win for the Lady Whippets.
Kevin Brunt / The Star-Herald
That set the stage for the Lady Whippets' wild ninth. Three hits, four walks, and three hit batters produced the 10 runs. The big blow was a two-run double by Whitehead.
Back-to-back doubles by Gracie Williams and Alexandra West produced Kosciusko's four first inning runs. A two-run double by Carsyn Mott for West Lauderdale in the sixth tied the game.
Whitehead led Kosciusko's 11 hit attack with two doubles, a single, and four RBIs. She went the distance in the circle, allowing six hits and four earned runs.
In the first game Thursday, Kosciusko fell behind 3-0 when West Lauderdale scored two runs in the second and one in the third. The Lady Whippets responded with two in the third on a two-run homer by Mary Kimble Price, two in the fourth and one in the sixth.
Mary Kimble Price rounds third for home after a two-run homer for the Lady Whippets.
Kevin Brunt / The Star-Herald
Whitehead allowed nine hits and two earned runs, with six strikeouts and one walk. Price and West each had two hits.
Kosciusko will play Sumrall or North Pike in the championship series at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. They split their first two games, Sumrall winning 8-6 in eight innings Thursday and North Pike 3-0 Friday. The decisive game was scheduled for Saturday at North Pike.
The first game is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, Game 2 for Friday and a third game, if necessary, Saturday. The Wednesday and Friday games will begin 30 minutes after completion of 2A games at 1 p.m.
Kosciusko defeated North Pike in three games for the championship last year.
