DECATUR — The Lady Tornadoes from Philadelphia traveled down Highway-15 and did something that hasn’t often been done as they outlasted the Newton County Lady Cougars 12-8 Tuesday night at Mack Fanning field in Decatur.

The back-and-forth contest wasn’t decided until the seventh inning. With Philadelphia clinging to a 9-8 lead, the Lady Tornadoes scores three runs in the top half of the inning, and then sandwiched three outs around a Newton County single in the bottom half to end the game and seal the hard-fought win.

Philadelphia Coach Austin McNair was pleased with the effort from his squad: “Anytime you can come to Newton County and get a win it’s big,” McNair said. “I am so proud of our team and the way they kept coming back.”

Lady Cougars coach Justin Chaney was also excited about his team’s performance on the night. “I am very proud of our team’s effort; we’re a young team, and I think we grew up (Tuesday),” said Chaney. “Earlier in the year, we lost to Philadelphia 9-0, but we kept battling tonight, and I can’t fault our team at all.”

Alyssa Davis carried the hot bat for Philadelphia. The junior shortstop crushed two home runs, the first was a solo shot in the third inning and added a three-run blast in the fourth to give Philadelphia the lead.

Davis scored the games first run in the top of the first, but Newton County answered in the bottom half as Cassidy Blount, Cassie Denson and Landree Amis crossed the plate. Triniere Walker and Brittany Thomas collected RBI hits in the inning to give Newton County a 3-1 lead after one inning.

The Lady Cougars held Philly scoreless in the top of the second and stretched its lead to 6-1 behind a Brittany Thomas homer well over the left field wall.

Philadelphia got its bats heated up in the third with Davis’ solo shot followed by Jada White’s two-run blast to narrow the Cougar lead to 6-4.

Blount rounded out the Newton County scoring when she singled and scored on Walker’s double.

Davis led Philadelphia with a perfect 4-for-4 night. She scored four runs and collected 4 RBI. White followed up with a two-run homer and three RBIs.

Newton County was paced by Blount’s three hits while adding three runs. Walker had three hits and two RBIs.

Newton County returns to action Thursday night when it hosts Neshoba Central in a final tune-up before hosting a playoff game next Tuesday.

Philadelphia will be in action next Tuesday when it hosts Jefferson County in a post-season tilt.

Clarkdale wins

From staff reports

Clarkdale High School topped Lake High School Tuesday to improve to 10-12 on the season.

Makayla Roberts went 3-for-4 with a triple, while Aubrey Hart was a perfect 3-for-3 with a double. Maggie Meadows finished 2-for-3, and Aubree McWilliams tallied two RBIs.

The Lady Bulldogs (3-2 in district) will return to district action when they travel to Enterprise High School Thursday for a 7 p.m. game.