Lady Wolves Open Region 23 Tournament with win over Lady Bulldogs

ELLISVILLE – The No. 2 seeded Co-Lin Lady Wolves softball team opened their play at the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament with a game against the No. 7 seed Gulf Coast on Tuesday, May 10. Despite a prolonged wait due to weather, the Lady Wolves used a dominant pitching performance along with early offense to beat the Lady Bulldogs, 6-1.

"The whole day was just a whirlwind for us and our team with having to sit and wait all day to know if we were going to play or not," stated Co-Lin head coach Meleah Howard. "Despite the uncharted territory for us, we had no doubt that our girls were ready to play and they came out and showed that."

The Lady Wolves got their scoring started early in the bottom of the first as Josie Meggs (Kosciusko) drew a leadoff walk and the stole second. Meggs then advanced to third on a groundout while Abby Grace Richardson (Brookhaven) and Belle West (Byram) drew back-to-back walks to load the bases with two outs. Meggs then scored on an RBI single by Zykeria Cole (Magee) while Leia Phillips (Philadelphia) drew a bases loaded walk scoring Richardson and giving the Lady Wolves a 2-0 lead.

The Lady Wolves added two more runs in the bottom of the second as Madison Moak (Brookhaven) hit a leadoff double while Meggs followed with an RBI double to increase the Lady Wolves lead to 3-0. Meggs then advanced on groundout by Faith Kivett (Tallulah, LA) and then scored on an RBI groundout by Maddie Weeks (Clinton) increasing the Lady Wolves lead to 4-0.

The final two runs for the Lady Wolves came in the bottom of the fourth as Skyler Speights (Monticello) drew a leadoff walk while Meggs drew a walk with one out to put two runners on. Maggie West (Waynesboro) was then brought in as a pinch runner for Speights but was forced out as Kivett reached on a fielder's choice leaving two runners on with two out. Weeks then hit a two-out, two RBI double scoring both Meggs and Kivett to give the Lady Wolves a 6-0 lead.

The lone run for the Lady Bulldogs came in the top of the fifth with a two-out solo home run while the Lady Wolves then allowed just two combined baserunners over the last 2.1 innings to secure the opening game win.

The Lady Wolves totaled four hits as a team with Josie Meggs, Maddie Weeks, Zykeria Cole, and Madison Moak collecting one hit each. Weeks led the Lady Wolves in RBIs with three while Meggs, Cole, and Leia Phillips had one RBI each.

Cara Biswell (Brandon) got the start for the Lady Wolves and improved to 15-1 with the victory and her 12th complete game of the season. Biswell allowed one earned run on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

"Coming out and getting on the board early was big for us and that set the tone for our energy to get us through the late night," added Howard. "Cara did a great job in the circle of keeping Gulf Coast off balance and our defense played very well behind her."

Co-Lin improves to 39-8 overall and will face off against the No. 3 seed Pearl River on Friday, May 12. First pitch between the Lady Wildcats and Lady Wolves is set for 8 p.m., at Community Bank Park in Ellisville.

"The day off for our team is very beneficial after a late night/early morning and we are excited to be moving on in the winner's bracket while looking forward to a really good matchup against a good Pearl River team on Friday," said Howard.