Blake Anderson launched a walk-off grand slam to lead West Lauderdale to a 7-3 win against Division 5-4A rival Quitman on Tuesday night.

    Kevin Lee Hinson and Dylan Miles each had two hits in the win.    

    Ryan Lang threw six innings for the Knights, while striking out 10 in the no decision. Mason Woolridge, who relieved Lang, pitch a scoreless inning and earned the win.

    Taylor Creighton had two hits for the Panthers, while Kyle Colston suffered the loss on the mound.

    West improves to 16-3, 5-1 on the season and will travel to Quitman on Thursday night.

— Daniel Rigdon

SE Lauderdale    15

Newton    4

    Mason Irby had three hits and three RBIs as the Southeast whipped Division 5-3A foe Newton on Tuesday night.    

    Blake McMullen had three hits, including two doubles, while Cody Shirley added two doubles in the win.    

    Nathan Ross earned the win for Southeast on the mound, which improves to 17-3 on the season.

    SEL will travel to Forest on Friday night.

— Daniel Rigdon

Union    7

Puckett    0

    Zack Mowdy threw a complete-game, one-hitter as the Yellowjackets blanked Puckett on Tuesday night.        

    Grant Gibbs, Taylor Coker and Luke Vivertte all had two hits apiece in the win.

    Union, 10-5, 4-2 will travel to Puckett on Thursday night.

— Daniel Rigdon

Newton Co.    12

Laurel    1

    Jordan Walker had two hits an four RBIs to lead the Cougars past the Tornadoes on Tuesday night in Division 5-4A play.

    Jacob Edwards and Dan Nelson each had two hits, while Zack May had a two-run double in the win.

    Will Brand (6-3) earned the win and struck out 10.

    Union will host Laurel on Friday night.

— Daniel Rigdon

NCA    7

RCA    0

    The Warriors fell to Newton County Academy on Tuesday night.

    Andrew Culpepper took the loss on the mound allowing eight hits.

    Dylan Tew and Jessie Barksdale each had two hits in the loss.

    RCA (10-7) will host NCA on Thursday night.

— Daniel Rigdon

Lamar    17

LCA    6

    J.D. Roberts earned the win, while striking out six as the Raiders routed Laurel Christian on the road on Tuesday night.

    Mike Marcello and Tyler Harris had three hits and two RBIs in the win, while Lance Strickland, Chase Davis and Tyler Hinson each had two hits.

    Lamar (7-12) will host Laurel Christian on Thursday night.

— Daniel Rigdon

PREP SOFTBALL

West Lauderdale    6

NE Lauderdale    0

    Kaitlyn Polk threw a complete-game shutout allowing only one hit as the Knights downed Division 5-4A rival Northeast on Tuesday night.

    Polk also had an RBI-single to help her cause, while CC Lawn and Haleigh Moffett each added two hits.

    West will go to Northeast Jones on Thursday night in a division tilt.

— Daniel Rigdon

JUCO GOLF

Eagles finish 6th at Red Wolf

    The Meridian Community College golf team concluded its final round Tuesday afternoon at the Arkansas State Red Wolf Classic in Jonesboro, AR. The Eagles finished the tournament with a final team score of 873 (21 over par) which was good enough for sixth place in the field of 22 teams. The Eagles were the only junior college among the teams entered in the Red Wolf Classic. Some of teams that were a part of the field included: Arkansas State, Vanderbilt, Arkansas-Little Rock, Austin Peay, Jacksonville State, Troy, Louisiana-Monroe, Depaul, and Oral Roberts.  

    “We didn’t play our best golf, but we able to rebound and put up some great numbers to finish strong,” said MCC head golf coach Clinton Hales. “This was a very solid field for our team to be a part of and this is the type of tournament that will prepare us for the big tournaments left on our schedule.”

    Arkansas-Little Rock won the tournament championship after completing the final round with a team score of 848 (4 under par) and Austin Peay finished in second place with a team score of 857 (5 over par). Vanderbilt finished the field in third place with a team score of 864 (12 over par), while Jacksonville State and Troy tied for fourth place with a score of 871 (19 over par).

    Alex Grannon of MCC was the top finisher for the green and white with a final score of 217 (4 over par) which was good enough for a tie of 14th position. T.J. Morgan and Dylan Brown finished tied for 29th with a final score of 219 (6 over par). Jake Stirling ended the tournament tied for 40th with a score of 220 (7 over par) and Easton Key fired a final tournament score of 278 (14 over par) which was good enough for a tie for 78th in the field.

    MCC will return to the links April 16-17 at the NJCAA District IV Championship Tournament in Coco Beach, FL. The tournament will take place at Rockledge Country Club and the Eagles won a tournament at the same course during the fall season. MCC won the District IV Preview Tournament at Rockledge six months ago by 23 strokes over Central Alabama Community College. Meridian is currently ranked number one according to the latest NJCAA Division I poll.

— from school reports

EMCC Lions place fourth at MACJC’s fifth golf event of spring campaign

    OLIVE BRANCH — In the MACJC’s fifth and final regular-season golf tournament of the spring, the Lions of East Mississippi Community College finished fourth in this week’s event divided between Southaven’s North Creek and Wedgewood in Olive Branch.

    Coach Dale Peay’s EMCC Lions scored well enough to post a pair of sub-300 team scores (298-297—595) for the second straight week, finishing just four strokes behind third-place Copiah-Lincoln Community College (295-296—591).  However, the four-time defending NJCAA Region 23 champions of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College out-distanced the eight-team field by 12 strokes with rounds of 283 and 286 to sweep the MACJC’s regular-season schedule with their fifth straight team title of the spring.  Northwest Mississippi CC claimed runner-up team honors with a two-day total of 581, though the Rangers fell out of contention with a final-round 295 after being just three strokes down following Monday’s opening round.

    For the second consecutive week, the Lions were paced by sophomore Weston Wallace, who trimmed five strokes off his opening-round score to card a 1-under-par 71 Tuesday and finish 10th with a two-day score of 147.  Fellow sophomore Bobby Bowlin, Wallace’s former prep teammate at Northwest Rankin High School, fired a pair of 75s to finish in 14th place.

    With two solid rounds of 4-under-par 68, Northwest Mississippi’s Cameron Thomas claimed individual medalist honors with a 3-stroke victory over MGCCC’s Jack Sargent (72-67—139) and Northwest teammate Chad Cupples (69-70—139).

    EMCC freshmen Miles Respess and Nick Davis tied for 15th and 21st place, respectively, though their final finishes came in contrasting fashion.  Respess, from Paragould, Ark., was tied for fifth after Monday’s opening-round, 1-under-par 71, but he struggled with a second-day 81 to finish with a two-day score of 152.  On the other hand, Davis, of Springville, Ala., shaved 14 strokes off Monday’s score with a final-round, 2-under-par 70 to finish at 154.

    Rounding out EMCC’s scorecard at the two-day event, sophomores Tyler Slocum and Andrew Spiers tied for 26th and 29th place, respectively, with total scores of 158 (76-82) and 160 (86-74).

    Having claimed state runner-up team honors a year ago, the EMCC Lions will next compete at this year’s MACJC State Golf Championship, April 16-17, to be held at River Birch in Amory.   

— from school reports

COLLEGE SOFTBALL

Tiger Softball Sweeps Stillman

    TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of West Alabama softball team returned to the win column with a doubleheader sweep of Stillman College on Tuesday afternoon. UWA (19-15) rallied to down SC in the opening game, 5-2, and run-ruled the Tigers, 9-0, in the nightcap.

    The Tigers cranked out 11 hits in the second game of the twinbill, including multiple hit efforts from Taylor Beck, Stephanie Shoup and Taylor Miller. Beck led the way with a 3-for-4 performance that included three RBI and two runs scored. Miller and Shoup each logged two hits each with Miller driving in two runs and scoring once while Shoup scored twice and recorded a RBI.

    Jessica Brock (11-5) logged the win in the circle. Brock distributed three hits in the complete game victory with three strikeouts and a walk.

    Miller concluded a three-run, second inning with a double to center that plated Beck and Scarlett Wright. After the Red and White scored a run in the third, Wright doubled in the fifth to left field pushing Beck and Morrison across the dish.

    Shoup added the first of three runs in the sixth inning with a triple that scored Tamara Vickers. Beck followed with a few batters later with a double to center that scored Rebecca Schick and Shoup to finish the scoring for UWA.

    UWA rallied back with four runs in the top half of the seventh. The Red and White cranked out seven of its 13 hits during the frame. Shoup plated the first two runs with a single up the middle that scored Mandi Headrick and Vickers. Shoup later scored on a Schick sacrifice fly to center for the third run. Kelsey Cooper delivered the final run of the game with a single down the left field line that scored Morgan Morrison.

— from school reports