Lady Wolves Sweep Jones to Win Region 23 Championship

ELLISVILLE – The Co-Lin Softball team entered the final day of the Region 23 Tournament knowing that they had to play and win two games to win the championship…and they did exactly that. The Lady Wolves came from behind in game one to beat Jones, 9-5, forcing the decisive final game in the tournament with the Lady Wolves beating Jones, 9-2, to win the Region 23 Championship.

"What a day for this program," stated Co-Lin head coach Meleah Howard. "That was a day that had been five years in the making and to be able to have it all come to fruition on the biggest stage still gives me chill bumps."

"We had our backs against the wall when we played Pearl River on Sunday and we found a way to come out of that game with a win and punch our ticket to the national tournament," added Howard. "When we rolled into the championship on Monday, we were playing so free and back to doing what we do as Co-Lin Softball and that was evident with the results."

Game One

The Bobcats got the scoring started off early with a single run in the top of the first to take an early 1-0 lead. However, the Lady Wolves responded with a pair of runs in the bottom half to grab the lead away from the Bobcats.

Josie Meggs (Kosciusko) and Faith Kivett (Tallulah, LA) drew back-to-back walks to start the inning and then advanced to third and second respectively on a sacrifice bunt by Madison Moak (Brookhaven). Abby Grace Richardson (Brookhaven) then hit an RBI single scoring Meggs tying the game at 1-1. After Richardson stole second, Kivett scored on an RBI groundout by Belle West (Byram) giving the Lady Wolves a 2-1 lead.

The Lady Wolves maintained that lead throughout the second through fourth innings, but the Bobcats stormed ahead in the fifth inning scoring four runs to take a 5-2 lead over the Lady Wolves.

The Lady Wolves answered back in a huge way with a seven-run bottom of the sixth to regain the lead as Belle West drew a walk to start the inning and then was replaced by Maggie West as a pinch runner. Skyler Speights (Monticello) then hit a one-out double advancing Maggie West to third while she then scored on an RBI single by Julianna Frazier (Bogue Chitto) making the score, 5-3. Laney Waguespack (Des Allemands, LA) then replaced Frazier as a pinch runner. Leia Phillips (Philadelphia) then hit a double scoring Speights and advancing Waguespack to third while cutting the lead down to 5-4.

After the Bobcats made a pitching change, Meggs hit an RBI single scoring Waguespack to tie the game at 5-5. After Meggs stole second, Lizzy Hollingsworth hit a pinch hit, two RBI single scoring Phillips and Meggs to give the Lady Wolves a 7-5 lead. Richardson was then hit-by-pitch to put two runners on with two outs, while Belle West then reentered the game and scored the final two runs of the inning with a two RBI double scoring Hollingsworth and Richardson while increasing the lead to 9-5.

The Lady Wolves then gave up a leadoff single in the top of the seventh, but a double play followed by a pop out ended the game securing the 9-5 win for the Lady Wolves and forcing the final and decisive game for the Region 23 Championship.

The Lady Wolves totaled 10 hits as a team with Abby Grace Richardson and Skyler Speights leading the way going 2-for-3 at the plate each while Josie Meggs, Lizzy Hollingsworth, Madison Moak, Belle West, Julianna Frazier, and Leia Phillips had one hit apiece. Belle West led the Lady Wolves in RBIs with three while Hollingsworth had two RBIs, with Meggs, Richardson, Frazier, and Phillips adding one RBI each.

Lila Blackburn (Red Bay, AL) got the start in the circle and earned a no-decision while pitching 4.2 innings and allowing five runs, three earned, on five hits with five walks and two strikeouts. Belle West picked up the win in relief and improved to 7-5 overall while pitching 2.1 shutout innings while allowing just two hits with one strikeout.

GAME TWO

The second game of the day saw the Lady Wolves score in five of the seven innings as they clobbered seven home runs and started the offensive explosion early with three runs in the top of the first inning.

Josie Meggs hit a leadoff single to start the game and then Maddie Weeks stepped up to the plate with one out, took one swing of the bat, and crushed a 2-1 pitch over the centerfield fence for a two-run home run to give the Lady Wolves a 2-0 lead. Weeks also broke the career RBI record at Co-Lin with that hit passing Jessica Crum while doing so. Later in the inning, Belle West stepped up to the plate with two outs and attacked the first pitch she saw depositing the ball over the left field fence for a solo home run increasing the lead to 3-0.

Abby Grace Richardson got in on the home run hitting spree with a solo home run that went off the top of the scoreboard at Community Bank Park in the top of the third making the score 4-0 in favor of the Lady Wolves. Skyler Speights then joined the home run club for the day as she drove a 2-2 pitch to left field that landed on top of the wall and bounced over for a solo home run in the top of the fourth giving the Lady Wolves a 5-0 lead.

Weeks and Richardson then hit back-to-back solo home runs for their second home runs of the game, both over the scoreboard, in the top of the fifth to increase the Lady Wolves lead to 7-0. Richardson also tied the single season record for home runs with her 20th of the season. The Bobcats scored their two runs in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run home run to cut the lead down to 7-2.

However, the Lady Wolves responded with a two-run home run of their own as Faith Kivett reached on a bunt single and then advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Meggs. Madison Moak then stepped and smashed a 1-2 pitch over the centerfield fence for a two-run home run giving the Lady Wolves a 9-2 lead.

The Lady Wolves then retired six straight batters over the sixth and seventh innings to secure the 9-2 win, sweep of the Bobcats, and Region 23 Championship.

The Lady Wolves totaled 13 hits as a team with Maddie Weeks, Abby Grace Richardson, Belle West, and Zykeria Cole (Magee) had two hits each while Josie Meggs, Madison Moak, Ellie Williamson (Jackson), Skyler Speights, and Faith Kivett had one hit each. Weeks led the Lady Wolves with three RBIs as she now sits at 122 career RBIs while Moak and Richardson added two RBIs apiece with West and Speights adding one RBI each.

The Lady Wolves turned back to Belle West for the start in game two and she delivered a complete game gem improving to 8-5 overall two runs on two hits with three walks and one strikeout.

"What people saw today from our offense is what we have seen in spurts all year with our ability to put a lot of runs really quickly," stated Howard. "In the circle, I thought Lila gave us her best start of the year and then Belle West came in and completely took over both games…to go from not having thrown many innings lately to suddenly throwing 16 innings in 24 hours, only giving up three runs, and earning three wins against two very talented teams is so impressive."

"Julianna Frazier stepped up in a big way for us while making her first start of the tournament in game one and then came through with a clutch hit when we needed her," added Howard. "Lizzy Hollingsworth also got her first at bat of the whole tournament and came through with another huge swing to break the tie in game one and give us a chance to play the decisive game two."

"Moments like that are what this time of the year is all about…players stepping up and making big plays when it matters most and we had that all day during both games," added Howard. "What people saw from our team today was the depiction of a championship effort on both sides of the ball and I just couldn't be prouder to be their coach."

The Region 23 title is the first one for Co-Lin softball since 2008 and with the sweep the Lady Wolves improve to a new program record for wins with 43 and sit at 43-9 overall. The team also earned a spot in the NJCAA Division II Softball World Series by making the region championship game and will play in Spartanburg, South Carolina from May 23-27 in the 16-team double elimination tournament.

"We brought home the first Region 23 championship in 15 years, and we are grateful to continue this season in Spartanburg next week at the national tournament," stated Howard.