Lady Wolves Beat Itawamba in Region 23 Tournament Opener

WESSON – The Co-Lin Softball team opened the Region 23 Softball Tournament facing off against Itawamba. The No.5 Lady Wolves beat the No.6 Indians, 3-2.

"Just another gutsy performance from our girls tonight," stated Co-Lin head coach Meleah Howard. "We had some miscues in the middle innings that we need to clean up, but at the end of the day we found a way to win and that is what this time of the year is about."

The game was scoreless through the first inning and a half of play, but the Lady Wolves scored the first one of the game in the bottom of the second to take an early lead. Josie Meggs (Kosciusko) hit a leadoff double and then scored on an RBI-single by Mary Ansley Chrestman (Cleveland) making the score, 1-0.

The Lady Wolves added a second run in the bottom of the third as Faith Kivett (Tallulah, La.) hit a leadoff single, advanced to third on a single by Madi Miller (Brookhaven), and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Maddie Weeks (Clinton) making the score, 2-0.

The final run for the Lady Wolves came in the bottom of the fourth inning as Chrestman hit a leadoff triple and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Bela Dekovic (Belle Chasse, La.) giving the Lady Wolves a 3-0 lead.

Itawamba scored their first run of the game in the fifth cutting the lead down to 3-1 and then scored one run in the six to make the score 3-2 with the tying run on third and go-ahead run on second base with one out. However, a groundout followed by a lineout ended the scoring threat in the inning and maintained the Lady Wolves 3-2 lead.

The Lady Wolves then looked to increase their lead in the bottom of the sixth with two runners on and one out, but a double play ended the inning and kept the score at 3-2. The Indians then went three-up-and-three-down as they sandwiched a lineout between two groundouts to end the game and secure the 3-2 win for the Lady Wolves.

Madi Miller and Mary Ansley Chrestman led the Lady Wolves offensively with both having 3-for-3 games at the plate. Faith Kivett added two hits while Josie Meggs had one to account for the nine total hits by the Lady Wolves including one double by Meggs and one triple by Chrestman. Chrestman, Bela Dekovic, and Maddie Weeks led the Lady Wolves with one RBI each.

Cera Blanchard (Metairie, La.) got the start for the Lady Wolves and improved to 25-4 with the complete game win allowing two unearned runs on six hits with four strikeouts and one walk.

"Cera was really good in the circle for us during this game," Howard said. "She did exactly what we needed her to do for us while we also took advantage of some opportunities offensively and cashed in enough runs to win the game."

Co-Lin is now 42-8 overall on the season and will return to action facing off against Jones in day two of the Region 23 Softball Tournament. First pitch between the No.5 Lady Wolves and No.4 Lady Bobcats is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., in Wesson.

"Now we turn our attention to tomorrow against a really good Jones team that we have become familiar with not just this year, but over the last couple of seasons," added Howard. "We just have to keep taking this one game at a time and remember the goal that we are chasing and then do whatever we have to do to achieve that."