Kosciusko softball had a close game against a strong opponent for the first time last week and came away with a 4-3 victory over Germantown. The Lady Whippets won their previous five games by at least seven runs.
“Any time you play a really good team, play a close game and come out on top, always helps you,” said coach Tony Terry. “It was a real confidence booster for us playing a really good team.”
Kosciusko built up a 4-1 lead and held on for the victory. “They chipped away a little, but we shut them down the last two innings.”
Anna Grace Whitehead did the shutting down. She went the distance, allowing seven hits with 13 strikeouts.
“She did a really good job,” Terry said. “She was locating well, had all her pitches working. It was definitely a strong performance against a really good offense.”
Whitehead also singled in two runs. Alexandra West had a double.
It was a busy week for the Lady Whippets, with five games, all wins, in six days. The week began as the Mary Kimble Price show. She had two homers and two singles in a 12-4 victory over Lake and became the first Lady Whippet since 2010 to hit for the cycle in an 11-3 win over Ethel.
She was also the winning pitcher against Ethel with eight strikeouts in 4.1 innings. Gracie Williams finished up, allowing one hit while fanning four in 2.2 innings.
Kosciusko defeated Ethel for a second time 10-3 and finished the week with a 5-2 victory over Enterprise-Clarke.
Campbell Blaine had the big bat in the second Ethel game with a single, double, homer, three RBIs and three runs scored. Whitehead, Makynlee Dickerson and Anna Mancell doubled.
Against Enterprise, Price had a single and double, Lizzie Kate Jones three singles, Blaine two singles and Dickerson and Maicee Coleman a double each.
“They (Enterprise) have a lot of speed and put a lot of pressure on us,” Terry said. “We played error-free ball.”
The one negative was runners left on base. “We had 14 hits against Enterprise and only scored five runs. We have to do a better job than that. But with five games in six days, it was really a grind. I'm proud of the way they pulled out wins against teams of that caliber,” said Terry.
Weather permitting, Kosciusko began Region 4-4A play Tuesday against Choctaw Central. The Lady Whippets travel to Collinsville Thursday for a key region game with West Lauderdale.
West Lauderdale won both regular season games against Kosciusko last year, then won the first game in their North State championship series. Kosciusko rebounded to win the next two, then went on to the state championship in a three-game series with North Pike.
Kosciusko plays Eupora and South Pontotoc Saturday in a tournament hosted by Ethel, beginning at 10 a.m.
