The Meridian Community College fast-pitch softball squad couldn’t overcome several costly lapses and tough competition in the Rush Classic on Saturday.

The Lady Eagles dropped three games in the classic to fall to 2-7 this season.

“I saw some signs of improvement with our hitting but we still have to defend,” said MCC coach Robert Eakins. “We are making too many physical and mental errors and we have to work on eliminating both of them.”

Meridian dropped its opener 12-1 to Bevill State as Bevill scored two in the second and two in the third inning and finished off the Lady Eagle with seven in the sixth.

Shanese Hunter led MCc with a home run while Gabrielle Morgan added a double.

In the second game, Meridian fell to Northeast Mississippi 8-5.

The Lady Eagles jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning but allowed two runs in each of the final four innings to fall to Northeast.

Tiffany Hickman went 3-for-4 to lead MCC while Brooklyn Williams went 2-for-3 and Constance Jones went 2-for-3 with a double.

Hunter also had a double in the loss.

In the team’s final game, Central Alabama ran away with an 18-2 win over the Lady Eagles.

Latoya Braxton had a double for Meridian while Hunter and Andrea Wilson had singles to account for the Lady Eagles’ other two hits.

MCC will be back in action on Tuesday when it travels to play Shelton State.

—Ryan Satcher



PREP BASEBALL

Newton County 8

Neshoba Central 4

Starting pitcher Cole Harris struck out nine over six-and-two-thirds and Newton County erputed for eight early runs in a win over Neshoba Central Saturday afternoon.

The Cougars scored two runs in the second before pushing across three runs in both the third and fourth innings on the way to the victory.

Offensively, Colton Amos and Jose Acosta each banged out three hits, with Acosta lacing three singles and driving in three runs. Amos signled twice and doubled for NC.

Jeremy May also turned in a 2-for-5 performance with a double.

—Brandon Walker



Newton County 12

Scott Central 0

In their second game of the day, the Cougars wasted little time in dispatching Scott Central, racing out to a 12-0 win in five innings.

Starter Patrick Ezell earned the win, hurling five innings with a pair of strikeouts.

Offensively, Drew Wilson singled three times and drove in three runs while May added three more hits.

Ezell and Harris each had a pair of hits while Amos and Tyler Davis doubled for Newton County.

With the pair of wins, Newton County improved to 4-2 on the season and will host Morton Tuesday.

—Brandon Walker



West Lauderdale 9

St. Martin 3

West Lauderdale’s Knights secured a pair of wins Saturday, taking out St. Martin in the opener with a 9-3 win.

WL’s Kameron Heiser earned the win on the hill, allowing six hits in seven innings of work with 10 strikeouts.

Dustin McWilliams drilled a three-run homerun for the Knights while Heiser added three hits.

Junior Darren Farmer added a triple for the Knights, who improved to 3-1 on the season with the win.

—Brandon Walker



West Lauderdale 10

Meridian 4

In their second win of the day, the Knights pounded out 17 hits en route to a six-run victory.

Pitcher Wes Stokes earned the win on the mound with a six-strikeout showing in six innings of work.

Tyler Richardson erupted offensively, banging out five hits, including three doubles.

McWilliams added two singles and a triple for West Lauderdale while Stokes singled and tripled.

For Meridian, Michael Sterling had a pair of hits while Luke Stanley doubled.

Meridian’s Beau Boutwell took the loss on the hill.

West Lauderdale will return to action Tuesday when the Knights host Neshoba Central.

—Brandon Walker



Meridian 9

St. Martin 3

Meridian earned a win over St. Martin on the strength of a five-inning pitching performance from Tyler Russell, who earned his first win of the season.

Offensively, Sterling and Dentray Jones had three hits each while Dallas Hannah and Stanley had two hits apiece.

With the win, Meridian improved to 4-2 on the season and will host Laurel Tuesday.

—Brandon Walker



Enterprise 2

Philadelphia 0

Jamee Taylor tossed a complete-game one-hitter to lead Enterprise past Philadelphia 2-0 on Saturday.

Taylor fanned 11 hitters to improve his record to 1-1 this season.

Blake Hennington accounted for both runs with a pair of sacrifices.

Tyler Cooper had two singles for Enterprise while Colby Pritchett added a double for the Bulldogs.

Enterprised improve to 2-2 this season with the win and will travel to play Taylorsville on Tuesday night.

—Ryan Satcher



Lake 11

Morton 2

Sam Wooten went 2-for-3 with a single and a home run and also knocked in two runs to lead Lake to an 11-2 win over Morton.

Dwayne Gammage picked up the win for Lake.

— Ryan Satcher



Lake 11

Choctaw Central 2

Lake pounded out three home runs and 11 runs to power its way past Choctaw Central.

Sam Wooten went 3-for-3 with a home run and two singles for Lake while Colton Mitchell knocked in four runs with two singles and a homer.

Dwayne Gammage had Lake’s other homerun in a 2-for-4 performance and also knocked in four runs.

Cody Taylor went 2-for-4 with a double and a triple and knocked in one run while Jordan Gunn had a double in the win.

Blake Luke picked up the victory to improve to 2-0 and Mitchell had a save for Lake.

Lake, now 4-1, will host Kemper County on Tuesday.

—Ryan Satcher



PREP SOFTBALL

Northeast 12

Magee 0

Entering the day with a 1-2 mark, Northeast’s girls moved to 3-2 Saturday with a pair of convincing wins at a tournament hosted by West Jones High School.

In the opener, NEL cruised to a 12-run win over Magee.

Starting pitcher Kaley Hull breezed to the victory, striking out eight in five innings of work.

Offensively, Mallory Pace doubled three times and Shelley Odom added three hits for the Lady Trojans.

Crystal Hill, Amber Dobbins and Lauren Zettler laced two hits each for Northeast.

— Brandon Walker



Northeast 10

Mize 3

In the nightcap, Northeast earned a seven-run victory over Mize. Odom earned the win for the Lady Trojans with a five-strikeout performance in seven innings.

Odom and Pace each banged out three hits while Hill, Dobbins and Zettler once again registered two hits each.

Now at 3-2 on the season, Northeast will travel to meet Enterprise Monday night.

—Brandon Walker



Clarkdale 9

Harrrison Central 5

Cory Roberson went 4-for-4 with two doubles and five RBI to slug Clarkdale past Harrison Central 9-5.

The Lady Bulldogs scored three runs in each of the first two innings and pounded out 12 hits in the victory.

Kayla Coleman had two hits including a double for Clarkdale while Beckman also had two hits.

Brittany Pippin had two hits and an RBI and Amber Spann had one RBI and a double in the victory.

Erin Adcock picked up the win for the Lady Bulldogs to move her record to 3-1 this season.

—Ryan Satcher



D’Iberville 6

Clarkdale 0

Clarkdale managed just two hits against D’Iberville in its second game on Saturday and fell 6-0.

D’Iberville scored one run in the first inning and two in the third then finished off the contest with three in the seventh.

Sarah Beckman had two hits including a triple for the Lady Bulldogs in the loss.

Bethany Russell had a double and two singles for D’Iberville while Jordan Adams added three singles in the win.

Clarkdale fell to 3-2 on the year with the loss and will host Newton County on Tuesday night.

—Ryan Satcher



Newton County 5

Terry 1

Chelsea Pugh struck out seven batters in seven innings and allowed just two hits to pick up a 5-1 win for the Lady Cougars.

Summer Alex and Kacie Buckley each had two singles and an RBI for Newton County while Brittany Cochran had a single and a double.

Katherine Brand knocked in two runs with a single and a double and Samantha Cooley had a double and a run batted in.

—Ryan Satcher



Newton County 3

Clinton 1

Kacie Buckley led the Lady Cougars to a 3-1 victory over Clinton with a complete-game two hitter on Saturday.

Buckley struck out seven hitters and also had a double at the plate to lead Newton County.

Brittany Cochran had a double while Chelsea Pugh had a single and an RBI.

Brooke Boulton had a single and knocked in a run in the victory

The Lady Cougars, now 3-0, will play at Clarkdale on Tuesday night.

—Ryan Satcher





D’Iberville 3

Quitman 0

D’Iberville built an early lead and held off Quitman to pick up its second game in Harrison Central’s tournament on Saturday.

D’Iberville scored two in the first and one in the third inning to slip past the Lady Panthers.

Krystyn Davis led Quitman with two singles while Shannon Mosley had a single and a double in the loss.

Kimmie Wagner and Bethany Russell each had a single and a double in the win while Jordan Adams added two singles.

— Ryan Satcher



JUCO BASEBALL

LSU Eunice 4

East Central 3

East Central dropped the first game of a doubleheader 4-3 to LSU Eunice on Saturday afternoon.

Greg Stovall was tagged with the loss for the Warriors after allowed six hits and four runs in four and two-thirds innings.

Offensively, Brian Jones led East Central with a 2-for-4 performance which including a double.

Allen Cheek went 1-for-2 and Josh Lafferty had a double for the Warriors in the loss.

—Ryan Satcher



LSU Eunice 5

East Central 1

LSU Eunice completed its Saturday sweep of East Central with a 5-1 win in the second game.

Chris Parkman went 1-for-3 for the Warriors in the loss while Deon Williams was 1-for-2 with an RBI.

Jesus Aleman was tagged with the loss after allowed seven hits in five innings of work.

East Central fell to 7-6 this season with the pair of losses.

—Ryan Satcher