Kosciusko coach Tony Terry could not have asked for a better week out of his Lady Whippet softball squad.
Kosciusko outscored its opponents 48-3 during five games last week to improve the season record to 15-0 just one year after the Lady Whippets won the MHSAA Class 4A fast-pitch softball title.
"We had a spell where we hit the ball pretty well," Terry said. "The pitching is still there. Like I said before, the pitching is going to be solid. We've been grinding out games up to this week, and we hit the ball well all week. I guess that's the best way to put it."
The Lady Whippets defeated Louisville by scores of 10-0 and 21-0 last Tuesday and Thursday to pick up a pair of Region 4-4A wins.
This week, Kosciusko forges ahead in its regional schedule, as it travels to New Hope Tuesday and hosts New Hope on Thursday. The Lady Whippets travel to Choctaw Central Friday.
Maddy Gilmore and Katie Mitchell needed just five innings to clinch the win. Gilmore, the Lady Whippets' starting pitcher, went four innings, where she struck out seven and allowed three hits. Mitchell saw one inning of action, and she logged one strikeout.
Gilmore added two doubles and one single, and KC Schuler ended with one double. Emmagail Kelley, Campbell Blaine and AnnaLeigh Jones tallied two runs apiece.
Mitchell went just three innings last Thursday as the Lady Whippets run-ruled the Lady Wildcats 21-0. Mitchell held Louisville batters hitless and fanned four.
Three Kosciusko batters notched multi-hit efforts. Blaine swatted a single and a double, Jones bashed two singles and one double and Josie Meggs ended with two singles. Schuler and Emma Rush also hit doubles.
Jones paced the Lady Whippets with four runs. Meggs, Kelley, Gilmore, Schuler and Blaine each finished with three runs.
Stellar defense and pitching resulted in a 3-0 win over Germantown on Friday.
Making her third pitching appearance of the week, Mitchell went the distance to grab the win in the circle. She allowed five hits and struck out four.
Gilmore led the way with two singles, while Kelly Hood's two runs were a team-best.
"I think as the season's gone on, we've progressed in certain areas," Terry said. "We have three new outfielders, and they've all brought something different to the table, and they've all been successful so far and have gotten better every game, really. We're getting good play out of them — they're making some good plays. I think they're getting comfortable with what we're trying to do. They've provided us some things on the offensive end, also. I think as a team, we're coming together."
Hood's two singles and one home run powered Kosciusko to a 7-1 win in Saturday's doubleheader opener against Florence. She also led the way with three runs.
Gilmore singled twice and doubled, while Jones and Brooke Mitchell each tallied two singles.
Gilmore returned to the circle, where she struck out nine and allowed nine hits over seven innings to earn the win.
Hood homered for the second-straight contest in Kosciusko's 7-2, Game Two win against Florence.
Hood, Jones and Kelley each finished with two runs. Blaine and Gilmore singled and doubled, and Jones swatted two singles.
Mitchell picked up the pitching win.
"Saturday we played Florence, which is a good team, and we had I think 25 hits in the two ball games -- two home runs, and three, four or five doubles," Terry said. "And we played Friday night, in an important game for the kids against Germantown, which is a good metro-area school, and we had a lot of intensity that night. We had a big crowd — it felt like a playoff game. It was loud, and you had to holler to be heard. I think it was good for them. We try to do everything to try to get ready for the playoffs, and that was a good experience for them. To be able to shutout a team like that speaks well for the pitching and the defense."
