Choctaw Central’s Tara Willis makes a diving catch for the Lady Warriors against Raleigh on Friday in a 13-5 Game 1 loss.

If Choctaw Central didn’t know who Raleigh’s Holly Craft was, it certainly found out the hard way on Friday.

Craft had a perfect day at the plate and drove in four runs while scattering eight hits as Raleigh took a 13-5 win over Choctaw Central in the Class 3A South State finals on Friday.

Choctaw Central fell to 18-12 on the season.

Raleigh built a big lead early as they scored four in the second and three in the first to go up 7-0.

“They hit the ball early, and we sort of got discouraged and frustrated,” Choctaw coach Aaron Terrell said. “We just couldn’t make the plays. When you get to this point in the season, you have to play well to advance and we didn’t play play well at all tonight. We just couldn’t shake off the errors and settle down. It can snowball on you really quick if you aren’t careful.”

Choctaw battled back with one in the fourth and three in the fifth to cut the lead to 7-4 but that was as close as the Lady Warriors got as Raleigh posted six runs in the sixth inning to take a 13-4 lead. Choctaw added one run in the bottom of the seventh for the final margin.

Choctaw Central had eight hits in the contest, led by Darien Tubby who was 3-for-4 with double, home run, two stolen bases, two runs scored and two RBIs. Lachrisha Williams was 2-for-3 with one RBI. Tia’rain Saunders had a triple and scored a run and had one RBI while Leia Phillips also had one RBI and one run scored. Taelor York had Choctaw’s other hit.

Iris Farve got the start for the Lady Warriors on the mound and pitched all seven innings, giving up 13 runs on 10 hits. 

“We hit the ball well enough to win,” Terrell said. “I was actually pleased with the way we hit the ball. We kept battling at the plate, we just couldn’t make the plays we had to make to get out of the inning.”

Only three of the 13 runs were earned as Choctaw Central had nine errors in the field.

Raleigh had 10 hits in the contest as Craft was 4-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored and four runs scored. Craft got the start on the mound and gave up five runs on eight hits while striking out six.

Game 2 of the series is set for today at 5:30 p.m. If a Game 3 is needed, it would be played immediately after.

“Tomorrow is a new day,” Terrell said. “If we can just go and get that Game 2, anything can happen in Game 3. We beat them earlier in the season so I know we can beat them. We just have to take them one at a time. We have to stay calm and make the plays in the field.”

 

NESHOBA CENTRAL 6,

LEWISBURG 0

 

The Lady Rockets had little trouble keeping their undefeated record in tact as Aspen Wesley threw a one-hit shutout in Game 1 of the Class 5A North State semifinals.

Wesley continued her dominance of Class 5A softball as the Mississippi State commit allowed just one hit and struck out 11 to pick up the win.

The game was scoreless for three innings until Neshoba scratched a run in the fourth inning and broke the game open with five in the fifth. 

Neshoba, now 31-0 on the season and ranked No. 1 in the state and in the nation, had eight hits. Tori Henderson was 3-for-4 with a double, home run and two runs scored. Wesley contributed at the plate as well, going 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. 

The series resumes today in Philadelphia as the Lady Rockets will host Game 2 at 3 p.m. Game 3 would be played at approximately 5 p.m. if needed.