Lady Wolves Sweep Doubleheader Slugfest Against Lady Warriors

DECATUR – The Co-Lin Softball team returned to conference play with a road doubleheader against East Central on Wednesday, March 29. The Lady Wolves and Lady Warriors played two back and forth slugfests, but the Lady Wolves ultimately came away with a sweep of the Lady Warriors taking game one, 11-10, in eight innings and winning game two, 12-11.

"Our team showed a lot of guts and resiliency throughout these games," said Co-Lin head coach Meleah Howard. "We just kept finding ways to respond to every bit of adversity that we faced throughout the doubleheader, and I am very proud of the effort and toughness our team displayed."

GAME ONE

The Lady Wolves took an early lead in the top of the first as they scored three runs. Josie Meggs (Kosciusko) got the offense started with a one-out single and then scored on a two-out RBI double by Abby Grace Richardson (Brookhaven). Richardson then scored on a second straight RBI double, this time by Belle West (Byram), who then scored on an RBI single by Zykeria Cole (Magee) making the score, 3-0.

However, the lead was short-lived as the Lady Warriors responded with three runs in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 3-3. The Lady Wolves then broke the tie with four runs in the top of the third to retake the lead.

Meggs drew a leadoff walk and then advanced to second on a single by Maddie Weeks (Clinton). Meggs then scored on an RBI double by Richardson, her second of the game, while Weeks then scored and Richardson advanced to third on an RBI single by West making the score, 5-3. After West stole second, Richardson scored on a sacrifice fly by Cole while West advanced to third on the play. Later in the inning, West scored on a two-out RBI single by Bailee Goodson (Brookhaven) giving the Lady Wolves a 7-3 lead.

Once again though, the Lady Wolves lead was short lived as the Lady Warriors scored five runs in the bottom of the third to take an 8-7 lead. The Lady Warriors then increased their lead to 9-7 with a single run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Lady Wolves responded with a solo run of their own in the top of the fifth. Cole hit a leadoff single, advanced to third on a double by Skyler Speights (Monticello) and then later scored as Madison Moak (Brookhaven) reached on an error making the score, 9-8.

The Lady Wolves then looked to regain the lead in the top of the sixth as Richardson hit a leadoff single, West drew a walk, and Laurel Breland (Lake) hit a pinch-hit single to load the bases with no outs. Richardson then scored on a double play to tie the game at 9-9, while a groundout then ended the scoring threat by the Lady Wolves.

The Lady Wolves then regained the lead with a single run in the top of the seventh as Moak hit a leadoff bunt single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Faith Kivett (Tallulah, LA), and scored on an RBI single by Meggs making the score, 10-9. However, the Lady Warriors responded with a single run in the bottom half of the inning sending the game into extra innings tied at 10-10.

The Lady Wolves scored one run in the top of the eighth as Speights came to bat with one out on the board, took one swing of the bat, and smashed a solo home run to left field giving the Lady Wolves an 11-10 lead. The Lady Warriors then drew a leadoff walk, but the Lady Wolves then retired the next three batters to secure the game one win, 11-10.

The Lady Wolves totaled a season-high 16 hits as Abby Grace Richardson led the way with a three hit performance while Josie Meggs, Maddie Weeks, Belle West, Zykeria Cole, and Skyler Speights had two hits each with Bailee Goodson and Madison Moak adding one hit apiece. Richardson, West, Cole, and Speights led the Lady Wolves with two RBIs each while Meggs, Goodson, and Moak had one RBI apiece.

Cara Biswell (Brandon) got the start in the circle for the Lady Wolves and earned a no-decision while pitching two innings allowing seven runs, six earned, on five hits with one walk and one strikeout. Laney Waguespack (Des Allemands, LA) improved to 5-0 with the win in a relief appearance while pitching six innings allowing three runs, all earned, on four hits with four walks and two strikeouts.

GAME TWO

The second game of the day got off to a much different start as the Lady Warriors scored three in the first and one in the second to hold a 4-0 lead over the Lady Wolves. However, the Lady Wolves woke the bats up offensively and scored four runs in the top of the third to tie the game.

Madison Moak got the offense started by reaching base on an error and advancing to second on the play with one out. Moak then took third on a wild pitch and later scored on an RBI double by Faith Kivett who then scored on an RBI triple by Josie Meggs. Meggs then scored on an RBI single by Maddie Weeks making the score, 4-3. Weeks then advanced to second as Abby Grace Richardson reached on a fielder's choice while both runners advanced bases on a wild pitch. After Belle West drew a walk to load the bases, Weeks scored on a sacrifice fly by Cole to tie the game at 4-4.

The Lady Wolves then scored three runs in the top of the fourth to take the lead and would never give it back to the Lady Warriors. Once again, Moak got the offense going for the Lady Wolves, this time with a one out single, and advanced to second on a groundout. Moak then gave the Lady Wolves the lead scoring as Meggs reached on an error giving the Lady Wolves the 5-4 lead. Meggs then advanced to third on a single by Weeks and then scored as Richardson reached on an error while Weeks later scored on another error by the Lady Warriors increasing the Lady Wolves lead to 7-4.

However, the Lady Warriors did not back down against the Lady Wolves and continued to keep the game close as they scored two in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead down to 7-6. The Lady Wolves regained their three-run lead with two runs in the top of the fifth as Skyler Speights drew a one-out walk, but then was forced out as Julianna Frazier (Bogue Chitto) reached on a fielder's choice. Moak then stepped up to the plate, took one swing of the bat, and crushed a two-run home run to center field increasing the Lady Wolves lead to 9-6.

The Lady Warriors responded with one in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead down to 9-7. However, the Lady Wolves responded with a three-run top of the sixth as Meggs drew a leadoff walk, Weeks singled, and Richardson walked to load the bases with no outs. Meggs then scored as Lizzy Hollingsworth (Decatur) reached on a fielder's choice during a pinch-hit appearance as Richardson was forced out at second on the play. Weeks and Hollingsworth then scored on a two RBI double by Cole increasing the Lady Wolves lead to 12-7.

The Lady Warriors responded with four runs in the bottom of the sixth capped off by a two-run home run to cut the Lady Wolves lead down to 12-11. After keeping the Lady Wolves scoreless in the top of the seventh, the Lady Warriors got the tying run to second and the winning run to first with two outs, but a groundout ended the bottom of the seventh securing the game two win, 12-11, and sweep for the Lady Wolves.

The Lady Wolves totaled 11 hits as Maddie Weeks went 3-for-5 at the plate while Faith Kivett, Josie Meggs, Zykeria Cole, and Madison Moak had two hits each. Cole led the Lady Wolves with three RBIs, while Moak had two RBIs, with Kivett, Meggs, and Weeks having one RBI each.

Lila Blackburn (Red Bay, AL) got the start in the circle for the Lady Wolves and earned a no-decision while pitching one inning allowing four runs, all earned, on one hit with three walks and two strikeouts. Cara Biswell picked up the win in relief improving to 5-1 overall pitching 2.1 innings allowing two runs, all earned, on five hits with one walk while Laney Waguespack pitched two innings of relief allowing five runs, all earned, on six hits with two strikeouts. Belle West earned her first save of the season pitching 1.2 innings of scoreless relief on one hit with one walk.

"Josie Meggs was huge for our team in these games as she reached base in every plate appearance and helped to spark the offensive explosion we had and needed to get this sweep," added Howard. "Our pitching staff did a great job of picking each other up today and overcoming a difficult day in the circle for us. I am really proud of how Belle West came in at a tough spot and shut the door in game two to help us get this sweep over a tough opponent in East Central."

Co-Lin improves to 21-7 overall, 8-2 in conference play, and will return to action with a road doubleheader against Mississippi Delta on Saturday, April 1. First pitch between the Lady Wolves and the Lady Trojans is set for 1 p.m., at The Carl & Brenda Grubb Softball Complex in Moorhead.