The Ethel High School and Kosciusko High School slow-pitch softball teams met in a 4-inning warm-up on Saturday in Winona, with the Tigers winning 3-2.
The game was part of four-team jamboree held at the Montgomery County Coliseum and did not count toward regular-season standings.
EHS defeated Leake Central High School of Carthage, 5-3, in its second and final matchup of the day. KHS defeated host Winona Secondary School, 3-0, in its final game.
“Overall we did what we were looking to do,” KHS Head Coach Tony Terry said. “Everybody we have on the team played in the game, they got some experience, learned some things, did some things they won’t do again.
“Some probably did better than they thought they were going to do the first time out.”
The 2017-18 team finished 18-4 during the regular season and qualified for the playoffs.
“(We lost) five people who batted over .500,” Terry said. “It’ll take a while...But, we got better from game one to game two today.”
Captains have not been selected, but Maddy Gilmore and Madeline McCown are the two senior Lady Whippets.
Three seniors graduated from EHS Head Coach Chris Schuster’s 2017 team, which finished 22-7—one game short of the Class I championship game. Jessica Mitchell and Sidney Rone are two seniors and program mainstays.
“We’re pretty versatile,” Schuster said. “We’ve got two or three base-hit-type girls; we’ve got three or four girls in the middle that are gap hitters.”
Schuster said the team is likely to rack up some home runs, as well, in part due to the Tigers’ short home-field fence.
“I like our chances,” Schuster said. “We’ll win some games. It’ll probably come down to ‘two on, two out, you’ve gotta make a play’ just like it did last year in the playoffs.”
The Lady Tigers’ season begins on the road in Louisville, on Saturday. The time has not been announced. The Lady Whippets’ season opens in Eupora, on Saturday, where they will participate in the 2018 Eupora Slow-Pitch Classic. Game time is scheduled for 11:20 a.m..
