After dropping a heartbreaker in the first game of the state playoff series with Mooreville, Kosciusko stormed back to take the next two games and advance.
The Lady Whippets dropped a 2-1 decision to Mooreville in extra innings in Game 1 of the best-of-three, second-round series last Tuesday in the MHSAA Class 4A state playoffs.
The teams were rained out on Thursday, but in Game 2 Friday, Kosciusko’s Madeline McCown delivered a walk-off, game-winning, RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift the Lady Whippets to a 4-3 win. That forced the third and if-necessary game, and Kosy kept the momentum rolling and hammered out a 12-2 victory to keep a magical season alive.
“We are really proud of them,” Kosciusko coach Tony Terry said. “The kids really got after it Friday.”
The two wins Friday lifted Kosciusko to 25-3 overall on the season. It also moved the Lady Whippets into a third-round playoff series which was scheduled for Monday and Tuesday of this week.
Kosciusko was to visit Tishomingo County Monday and host Tish County Tuesday to complete the series. Tishomingo, the Region 1-4A champ, swept Caledonia in second-round action after a first-round bye.
The winner of that series will face either Corinth or Pontotoc in the Class 4A North State series currently scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
In the series-opening loss, neither team scored until both got a single run in the sixth. Mooreville then won it in the bottom of the eighth.
Maddy Gilmore had two hits and an RBI and AnnaLeigh Jones also had two hits to lead Kosciusko. Kelly Hood singled and scored, while MaKenzie Ryals and Josie Meggs both singled.
Katie Mitchell was the tough-luck loser in the circle, scattering seven hits over seven innings. She allowed one earned run and struck out three.
In Game 2, McCown’s walkoff single with two outs in the seventh inning produced a win and she finished with two hits, a run and an RBI.
Gilmore also had two hits and a run, while Ryals singled and drove in a run. Meggs had the team’s other hit, while Jones had an RBI and Katie Mitchell and Brooke Mitchell both scored once.
Katie Mitchell threw the seventh inning and got the win in relief of Gilmore, who tossed six innings and struck out three. She allowed one earned run on five hits.
In Game 3, Kosy broke out the sticks early and knocked off Mooreville in a rout-shortened contest.
Meggs was 3-for-4 with a triple, two runs and an RBI while Hood and Jones both had two hits, two runs and an RBI.
Abigail Myers doubled, drove in three runs and scored once, McCown singled and scored and Sarah Caroline Henderson also scored.
Ryals had an RBI, while Brooke Mitchell and Gabbie Kelley each scored once.
Katie Mitchell was the winning pitcher, going the distance and allowing just one earned run. She scattered nine hits across six innings but walked just one.
