Kosciusko was two outs away from a second consecutive 4A softball championship Wednesday before Sumrall rallied for a 5-4 victory, evening the series at 1-1. The decisive game is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.
The Lady Whippets broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the sixth when Campbell Blaine led off with a single, stole second, took third on a ground ball, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Alexandra West.
Junior catcher Alexandra West makes a throw for the out at first base.
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For the Lady Bobcats, Londyn Robertson led off the top of the seventh with a single. After a sacrifice bunt by Olivia Herrin, Anna Grace Shows singled in the tying run. Another single by Shaylee Ingram and a two-out, two-run double by Brandi Bond over the head of left fielder Maicee Coleman made it 5-3.
Kosciusko didn't go quietly. Laura Beth Wood led off the bottom of the seventh with a pinch-single and took second on a wild pitch. Makynlee Dickerson followed with a drive to deep right, but Shows ran it down with an over-the-shoulder catch.
Shortstop Makynlee Dickerson with the throw and out to first base.
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Mary Kimble Price singled in Wood, but Sumrall pitcher Ashlyn Buckhalter was able to get the final two outs.
Kosciusko coach Tony Terry pointed to the play of Sumrall's outfielders – Shows in right, Ingram in left and Robertson in center – as a key. In the two games, they recorded 17 outs.
Junior center fielder Campbell Blaine safely slides into third base.
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Shows’s seventh inning catch took an extra base hit away from Dickerson. “With her speed, it would have been a triple. We would have been no worse than tied going to extra innings,” Terry said.
Makynlee Dickerson and Coach Wade Moore talk things over at first base.
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A diving catch by Ingram on a liner by Blaine in the first inning saved a run.
Kosciusko took a 1-0 lead in the second on a single by Coleman and three straight walks. At that point, Buckhalter replaced Laura Smith in the circle and Price lined out to center, leaving the bases loaded.
Sumrall's first hit of the game off Anna Grace Whitehead, a two-triple by Ingram just inside first base which scored two unearned runs in the third. Kosciusko tied it in the fourth when Blaine singled, stole second, continued to third when the throw from catcher Brette Loftin ended up in the outfield, and scored on a ground out by Gracie Williams.
Sophomore pitcher Anna Grace Whitehead heaves a heater over the plate for a strike.
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Terry said it's probably good that there are two days off after the tough loss.
Kosciusko won the series opener 9-7 Tuesday thanks to six unearned runs in the fifth. Price ignited the rally with a one-out double.
Whitehead was the winning pitcher in the first game when she threw 133 pitches and the loser in the second, and Buckhalter the loser in Game One and the winner in Game Two.
The Lady Whippets kept enthusiasm at a high level in the dugout.
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The Tuesday night game before a standing room only crowd was scheduled for a 7 p.m. start, but the pitch came at 8:40 becuse the day's first three games ran long. There were only 17 hours and 10 minutes between Whitehead's last pitch Tuesday and her first pitch Wednesday.
“It was fun,” Terry said after Tuesday's game. “They had a big crowd, and we had a big crowd. I told the kids, just enjoy the moment. Some people never get the experience. Having this type of crowd in softball is awesome.”
