RIDGELAND —
A year ago, Corinth seemed to have all the ingredients for a championship run in slow-pitch softball before the Warriors ran into a juggernaut Newton County squad which went undefeated.
Here Saturday at Freedom Ridge Park, a senior-laden Corinth team got its revenge, winning the rematch between the pair by taking a best-of-3 series to claim the MHSAA Class 4A State Championship.
“They were awfully good last year and had that entire team back with the exception of one kid,” Newton County coach Justin Chaney said of the Warriors. “We knew it’d be a war here today, and it was.”
Corinth held on for a 9-6 win in the opener before Newton County took the second game, 6-3. In the third-and-decisive game, the Warriors scored five unearned runs in the top of the seventh inning for an 8-1 victory.
“You just kinda knew we needed to draw even or get ahead at some point,” Chaney said of Game 3. “But we left a lot of runners on those first few innings.”
Corinth senior pitcher Elizabeth Williams was the star of the day for the Warriors, keeping a normally-potent Newton County offense at bay with a high-arching pitch which often reached heights well beyond the 12-foot limit — especially in the first and third games of the series.
“Hey, give her credit,” Chaney said. “They kept giving it to her and she kept throwing it for strikes. That’s a credit to her. And give credit to our pitcher too. She threw it up there with her and did it for strikes too.
“Our biggest fear came true out there today,” Chaney said. “We had heard if their pitcher could get it up to 16-18 feet and get it called, we’d be in trouble. And she did. That young lady did an outstanding job.
“That’s just two really good teams out there battling, and today, they were a little better.”
Newton County, which had won the past two Class 4A state titles, finished 32-3 after losing five seniors from its 2011 championship squad. Corinth won 15 of its last 17 games and finished 29-8.
In Game 3, Corinth got a two-run homer from Portia Patterson and scored an unearned run in the top of the first to grab a 3-0 lead.
It stayed that way until the fourth, when Meagan Higginbotham, Mary Snowden and Savannah Gates got three straight two-out hits to push across Newton County’s first run. But just like they did in the first and second innings, the Cougars stranded a pair in the fourth.
In fact, Newton County was out-hit just 9-8 in the final game. But the Cougars
committed three costly errors compared to none for Corinth.
Patterson was 2-for-4 with her homer, four RBIs and two runs to lead the Warriors. Jamia Kirk had two hits and two runs and Bailee Kramer had a pair of singles.
Snowden was 3-for-3 to lead Newton County, while Higginbotham added a pair of singles.
Corinth started the first game much like the third, jumping to a quick lead early.
The Warriors scored four times in the first inning and got two more in the second for a 6-0 advantage. Newton County got as close as 7-5 in the sixth inning, but Stennett Smith’s two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth gave Corinth the cushion it needed.
Patterson was 4-for-4 with three runs and Stennett was 2-for-2 with a homer, double and four RBIs to pace the Warriors. Kirk added two singles and Haley Christian had a triple and two RBIs.
Ashton Lampton was 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs to pace Newton County, which had 13 hits. Hannah May was 2-for-3 with a double, RoNeisha Brown had two singles and Latesia Davis had a double.
Newton County then fought back to take a 6-3 win in Game 2 and force the if-necessary game.
The Cougars stranded five baserunners in the first two frames, but struck for three runs in the bottom of the third and did not trail again.
Lampton had three singles, Higginbotham was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Darby Bishop had two hits and two runs scored for the Cougars. Gates also had two hits, while Brown had a triple as Newton County had 14 hits.
Anna Kayte Webb was 3-for-3, Katie Vandiver doubled and tripled and Smith doubled to lead Corinth in Game 2.
“I’m telling you, you have to really tip your hat to our bunch,” Chaney said. “We got down 1-0 and looked like we were shellshocked. But we regrouped, came back and really put it together in that second game.
“By the same token, we had the momentum after that second game and they jump out there with three runs in the first inning of the last game, so you’ve got to give them credit.”
Sports
Corinth gets revenge, wins rematch with Newton County
- Sports
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(PHOTOS) Newton County Class 4A State Championship
Slideshow from games one and two of the MHSAA Class 4A State Championship.
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Not done yet
After being shutout less than 24 hours earlier, the Newton County Cougars used a 10-inning affair to force a Game 3 in the Class 4A championship series, topping Lewisburg, 2-1, in Game 2 at Trustmark Park.
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Hollins focused on Spurs, not his contract
Lionel Hollins has been more successful than any Grizzlies coach and will be a free agent after June 30.
He has the Grizzlies in the Western Conference finals for the first time and has won more games with this team than any other coach. -
Slive focused on future after big changes
Mike Slive sprawls in a comfy arm chair, propping his feet on a coffee table between one massive tome on Winston Churchill and an even thicker "Encyclopedia of Southern Culture."
He's relaxed and feeling awfully good about the state of the Southeastern Conference.
It's a rare moment of calm for the SEC's cerebral commissioner, but he can afford it since his "A pile" of things to do has gotten considerably slimmer over the past two years. -
’Bama bounces Ole Miss from SEC Tourney
For the second day in a row, the Rebels went into extra-innings but were unable to emerge with the victory as No. 21 Ole Miss (37-22) fell to Alabama (34-25) 7-5 in 10 innings at the SEC Tournament on Thursday.
With the loss, the Rebels were eliminated from the SEC Tournament and will now await NCAA Tournament selection announcements at 11 a.m. on Monday. The selection of the NCAA Tournament field will be televised by ESPNU.
Tanner Bailey (4-2) suffered the loss for the Rebels, allowing two runs on one hit with two walks in 2.1 innings of work. -
Roy shows big-league talent in win
Every youth leaguer dreams of being a Major League Baseball player. In Tuesday's Cardinals-Mets game, 8-year-old Trace Roy swung the bat and flashed some leather that looked like a glimpse into the future.
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Cougars fall in Game 1
A sixth inning rally by Lewisburg handed the Newton County Cougars their first lost of the postseason, 2-0, in Game 1 of the Class 4A baseball championship at Trustmark Park.
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Bulldogs win again, beat S. Carolina in SEC Tournament
Demarcus Henderson and Wes Rea both had RBI singles in the ninth inning to lift Mississippi State to a 5-3 win over South Carolina Wednesday night in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
The Bulldogs (42-16) loaded the bases with one out before Henderson and Rea drove in runs on consecutive at-bats for the second time in the game.
Mississippi State had beaten Missouri 2-1 in 17 innings Tuesday night, matching the longest game in SEC tournament history.
Reliever Myles Gentry (4-0) limited the Gamecocks (39-17) to a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth.
Gentry pitched 5-2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits while striking out eight.
Rea was 3 for 4 while Henderson drove in three runs.
Mississippi State led 3-0 before South Carolina tied it up in the fourth.
Max Schrock drew a bases loaded walk and Brison Celek followed with a two-run single. -
Hogs top Ole Miss in SEC Tournament
For the second time this season the Rebels played an extra-inning affair with the Razorbacks, but with a different outcome as No. 21 Ole Miss (37-21) fell to No. 15 Arkansas (36-19) 2-1 in 10 innings on Wednesday.
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Fundamentals leading Newton County to Jackson
In 2006, Newton County baseball won the 3A state title. Since then, they've moved up a class but haven't had much luck – until now.
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