from staff reports
Defending Class 5A state runnerup Meridian had its back to the wall before rebounding to keep its season alive Thursday in the MHSAA slow-pitch softball playoffs.
MHS, on the road to Division 7-5A champ George County, lost Game 1 of a best-of-three series 9-5 before rebounding to win 4-3 and 5-1 —Thursday night in Lucedale.
The Lady Wildcats, who are now 16-10 on the year, will travel to Harrison Central for a second-round, best-of-three series beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Already down a game, Meridian broke a 3-3 tie in the seventh inning of Game 2 to stay alive Thursday.
The home team on the scoreboard, the Lady Wildcats got the game-winning hit from Kenyatta Handley to score J'Quandra Hickman from second and force the if-necessary third game.
Handley finished with three hits including a double, while Hickman singled and doubled for MHS. Devonna Gilmer, Heather Reed and Victoria Moore all had two hits, Shakira Stribling doubled and drove in two and Olivia Taylor also had an RBI.
Gilmer was the winning pitcher for Meridian, which out-hit George County 14-8 and overcame seven errors to win the second game.
In the third-and-decisive game, Meridian scored three times in the top of the seventh to give themselves a cushion and take the series.
Reed had three hits and two RBIs, while Stribling had a single, double and an RBI. Hickman tripled, E.T. Warren doubled and both Moore and Breanna Hampton drove in runs.
Gilmer (14-10) was the winning pitcher.
In the first game Thursday, George County scored twice each in the first, second and third innings and held on to beat the Lady Cats.
Hickman had a single and double and Gilmer took the loss on the mound while getting two hits. Handley doubled and drove in three, Warren had a double and both Reed and Moore had RBIs for MHS.
— Rocky Higginbotham
Louisville 3-2-12
Mooreville 2-10-8
It took three games, but Louisville managed to knock out the defending Class 3A North champs out in the first round.
The Lady Wildcats held off a seventh-inning rally by Mooreville to take the one-run victory in a 3-2 win in the opener.
Brianna Vaughn — who picked up the win in both the first and third games and suffered the loss in game two — had a double, while Keoceania Yarbrough tripled in the win.
In the second game, LHS never recovered from a three-run first inning by the Lady Troopers and were handed its third loss of the season, 10-2.
Kenyetta Ivory led the Lady Wildcats with a single and a double. Shakeya Greer also had a two-bagger.
The final game of the evening provided the most offensive fireworks for both teams as they combined for 20 runs on 26 hits — with Louisville prevailing 12-8.
Mooreville jumped out to a 7-2 lead through two-and-a-half innings before closing the game with ten of the last 11 runs.
The big spark came in the bottom of the third when Tykeria Harris hit a two-run home run to cut the deficit to one run. She also had a double in the game.
Tai Young also hit a dinger. Her three-run shot came in the sixth inning and was the second of her two hits.
Rasheda Nicholson and Tiera Cummings each added a pair of doubles, while Yarbrough and Ivory both had two singles.
Louisville will also play its second-round, best-of-three series at home, hosting Kossuth Saturday afternoon.
— Chris Brennaman
Nettleton 7-13
Choctaw Central 4-3
Choctaw Central was unable to carry over its impressive run to close out the regular season into the playoffs as the Lady Warriors fell to Nettleton in first-round, Class 3A action.
CCHS won 12 straight games before bowing out in the first round with two losses to the Division 2-3A champs, 7-4 and 13-3.
The Lady Warriors ended the season with a 20-6 overall record under first-year head coach Mike Luke.
— Chris Brennaman
Times set for Neshoba
Neshoba Central, which defeated Pearl on Tuesday, will host Pontotoc in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs on Saturday.
First pitch for Game 1 of the best-of-three series on the NCHS campus is set for 1 p.m.
— Chris Brennaman
