Entering the week, Kosciusko coach Tony Terry lamented the early spring weather that delayed the team season opener by a week. The Lady Whippets finally got back on the field two weeks ago, and Terry hoped for more compliant weather moving forward so that his team could play on a more consistent basis.
The Lady Whippets did just that and went 3-0 in the process by outscoring their opponents 35-0. The trio of wins improved Kosciusko to 5-0 on the young season.
"I thought we had a pretty good week," Terry said. "The weather for the most part cooperated. We had two games we were supposed to play (Saturday). We canceled those because of the tornado watch, but at least we were able to play two days back-to-back. I think that helps. You could tell we hit the ball pretty well. The pitchers pitched well, as usual. Pitching and defense for the last three, four years is a thing we hang our hat on. That's always there, for the most part. We count on it being there, anyway."
Kosciusko defeated Choctaw Central 13-0 last Tuesday and picked up a pair of wins in double-headed action against Choctaw County last Thursday by scores of 12-0 and 10-0.
Kelly Hood netted three hits -- triple, double and single -- to go with a team-high three RBIs and four runs in the early week win against Choctaw Central. Pitcher Katie Mitchell went five innings. She struck out six batters and allowed just one hit.
Maddy Gilmore swatted a double and a single, while Mitchell, Anna Leigh Jones, Kaitlyn Howell and Emma Rush knocked singles.
Gilmore and Rush tallied two runs apiece.
The Lady Whippets combined for 11 hits in their 12-0 win against Choctaw County last Thursday in the first of two games against the Lady Chargers. Hood, Jones and Campbell Blaine posted multi-hit efforts. Mitchell -- who had a double -- ended with three runs.
Gilmore went three innings in the circle. She didn't surrender any hits and fanned five Choctaw County batters. Breelyn Cain appeared for one inning.
Mitchell picked up her second win of the year after the Lady Whippets cruised to the shutout win in the back end of the double-header. Mitchell tallied seven strikeouts and surrendered one hit in four innings pitched. Emmagail Kelley closed out the fifth inning.
Josie Meggs finished with three singles and three runs. Hood and Kelley each tallied two runs. KC Schuler knocked a double.
"Maddy and Katie pitched well, and we had Breelyn Cain, a seventh-grader, she got an inning and pitched well," Terry said. "Emmagail Kelley threw one inning again and pitched well. We're winning some games and getting to play some people and growing up a little bit."
Kosciusko travels to Northeast Mississippi Community College on Friday for games against Mantachie, Kossuth and Brighton (Tennessee), and the Lady Whippets hit the road again Saturday for Florence, where they'll play games against Florence and Pisgah.
"This coming week will be big because we have five games on Friday and Saturday," Terry said. "It'll be an all-day thing on Friday. We have three varsity games and two junior varsity games, so we'll kind of be playing continuously for about five or six hours. We won't get bored. On Saturday, we go to Florence and play a really good Florence team. We also play Pisgah. So basically, about five games in 24 hours, traveling about 300 miles to get there."
