Lady Tigers take Round 1

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September 12, 2008

Anonymous The Meridian Star Fri Sep 12, 2008, 09:30 AM CDT

By Rocky Higginbotham

sports editor

There was plenty going on at Southeast Lauderdale Thursday night, with action ranging from pee-wee football to mini cheerleaders, band practice and even a few pick up games.

But the main attraction was at the softball field, where the host Lady Tigers were tangling with Newton County in the latest installment of their ever-growing rivalry.

Down by four runs, Southeast scored six times in the home half of the sixth inning and held on for a 13-11 victory over Newton County in the first half of what is certain to be a battle for the Division 5-3A crown.

After Newton County scored four times in the top of the sixth, Southeast came right back with six straight hits to spark its game-winning rally.

"We needed that," Southeast coach Mack Fanning said. "And it was that way all night.

"They scored four runs in the top of the first and then we battled back. Then they got three or four more and we battled back again. Both teams hit the ball. Thank goodness we were able to answer them when they scored."

The Lady Tigers improved to 8-5 overall and 3-0 in division action. Newton County fell to 8-5 and 2-1.

The six-run rally included a leadoff double from Paige Sheppard and then singles from Denisha Knight, Lainie Simcox, Brittany Pounders, Taylor Bailey and Shelby Sheppard — with the last one plating the game-tying run.

After an out and an error which loaded the bases, Brianna Newell followed with a two-run single to provide the winning runs.

Paige Sheppard finished 4-for-4 with three runs scored and Knight was 4-for-4 with a pair of runs to lead Southeast, which banged out 21 base hits.

Pounders was 3-for-4 with four RBIs; Bailey went 3-for-4; Simcox was 1-for-2 with a pair of intentional walks, three runs and three RBIs; Shelby Sheppard had two hits and two RBIs; and Newell also had two hits and two RBIs.

The Lady Tigers actually stranded 13 baserunners — 10 of them in the first four innings. That fact wasn't lost on Fanning, who said runs would be at a premium if both teams beat everyone else in the division as usual and a tiebreaker comes into place.

"In that case, we're really just playing a 14-inning game and right now, we're up 2-0," Fanning said. "We've still got to go (to Decatur) for the other seven innings, and if we don't leave all those runners on base, we might have won 15-or-16 to 11, and we might need those runs later."

Newton County, meanwhile, banged out 20 hits and got a 4-for-4 night from Katie Brackeen — who had a double and three RBIs. Summer Alexander was 4-for-5 with two doubles and scored three times.

Catherine Brand added a 3-for-4 night which included two doubles, three runs and two RBIs; Brooke Boulton had two hits and two runs; and Samantha Cooley had a pair of hits, as well.

"That's the way a slow-pitch game is supposed to be," Newton County coach Justin Chaney said of the teams combining for 41 hits. "It's not supposed to be 4-2 or 2-1 ... tonight was just a good slow-pitch games where both teams hit the ball."

The Lady Cougars led 4-0 after the top of the first and 7-4 after scoring three times in the top of the fourth.

Erin Conley was the winning pitcher, while Wendy McCracken took the loss.

Newton County returns to action Saturday night, hosting Clarkdale at 7 p.m. Southeast, meanwhile, is in the Pearl Tournament Saturday.

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