ENTERPRISE —     The day couldn’t start off much worse for Enterprise. But the ending couldn’t get much better for the Bulldogs.

    After senior star Hayleigh Harper headed to the emergency room early Tuesday morning with an apparent appendicitis, Enterprise overcame that loss to sweep visiting East Webster 3-2, 12-1, to capture its second straight Class 2A South State championship. The Bulldogs, the defending state champions, will face Hamilton at Freedom Ridge Park in Ridgeland on Saturday in a best-of-3 series for the state crown.

    “I got a text from her mom at like six this morning that they were on the way to the ER and I didn't know what to say,” Enterprise coach Davey Dewitt said after he led the Bulldogs back to state in his first season as head coach after being promoted to replace Josh Perkins. "But, that was a big win. That was a big win.

    "I turned around and told the girls in the dugout tonight that good things happen when you start believing and it was like a light switch went on. And they did believe."

    The Bulldogs didn’t miss a beat without Harper, especially in Game 2.

    After a scoreless first three frames, the Enterprise bats came alive and hammered East Webster. The Bulldogs, who are 19-11 and after winning 16 of their past 19 games, racked up five hits in each of the final three innings of the six-inning affair, scoring at least three runs in each frame.

    “The bottom of the lineup, the top of the lineup, they all were hitting,” Dewitt added. "For those few innings, it just got contagious.

    "People were just wanting to get in the batter's box. Hayleigh was over there wanting to get in there. She asked me if she could go hit."

    Opening the fourth, Harley Smith singled and the next three Bulldogs — Jess Turner, Emmalee Roberts and Ashley McGowan — followed suit. Delaney Davidson then drove in Enterprise’s third run with a sacrifice fly and Lauren Smith added an RBI fielder’s choice to stake the Bulldogs to a 4-0 lead.

    Enterprise picked right back up in the fifth as the first three Bulldogs — Brittany Hagwood, Blakely Riley and Harley Smith — all singled and Roberts and Davidson added RBIs again as the lead pushed to 7-0.

    After the Wolverines got one back in the bottom of the fifth, Enterprise put the game away in the sixth. With two on and one out, Riley hammered a line drive to right-center for a two-run triple, scoring on an East Webster error. Harley Smith then doubled off the wall in left and the Bulldogs tacked on two more runs.

    “Blakely came up huge with that hit in the gap that cleared the bases,” Dewitt said. "We did exactly what we needed to in every situation in Game 2."

    Leading the 17-hit attack were Harley Smith and McGowan with three each.

    It was a much different story in Game 1, although Enterprise never trailed.

    With two outs in the third, Hagwood drew a walk and moved to second on an infield single by Riley. Harley Smith, who earned the wins in both games, then put Enterprise up with an RBI single to center.

    East Webster answered immediately. Autumn Frost was walked with one out in the top of the fourth and after moving to second on a Mamie Hollenhead single, Frost went to third on a fielder’s choice before Kerrigan Clark knotted it with a single.

    However, Enterprise went right back in front. Following a Roberts single, Davidson reached with one out on a fielder’s choice as Hollenhead’s throw to second to force Roberts sailed into right field. McGowan then pinch-hit for Kaleigh Russell and delivered a two-run single to put Enterprise ahead for good.

    “She's just an eighth-grader and I don't think she really knows how big these games are,” Dewitt said as McGowan went 4-for-4 in the series. "I think she just goes in there and performs. She doesn't know how important these games are, she just goes up there, takes a swing and gets a hit.

    East Webster, though, clawed back in the seventh. The first two Wolverines reached with a pinch-runner scoring on a sacrifice fly for the second out. Following a single and a walk that loaded the bases with two outs, Kendall Wilkinson ended the game with a fielder’s choice groundout.

    “We made only one or two errors that first game and when you don't make errors or walk them, it's hard to beat you,” Dewitt said. "You can't give a team like that, good hitters like that, extra runs. And we made every play."