Coca-Cola/Powerade Softball Challenge kicks off Monday

WESSON – The third annual Coca-Cola Challenge presented by Powerade between the Co-Lin Lady Wolves and the Southwest Lady Bears will be held on Monday, Feb. 19, at 3 p.m. at Lady Wolves Field. The doubleheader was originally scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 6, but had to be moved due to inclement weather. To kick off the Challenge, press conferences were held in McComb and Brookhaven on . The Challenge started in 2005 with the first 12 years featuring the Co-Lin/Southwest baseball matchup. Softball was added to the Challenge in 2016.         

The Challenge was originally started by the crew of the "Chasing Foul Balls" radio show with three goals in mind-one, to expose more people to community college baseball (and now softball) with an emphasis on Southwest and Co-Lin; two, to provide a fun, family experience at the ballparks; and, three, to donate money to the programs of each school.        

"So far a total of $29,000 has been split between the two schools," said Neil Randall of Chasing Foul Balls.

The Challenge is always a great day full of fun and excitement for both schools. In addition to the games, check presentations are made to the head coaches of both schools prior to each game, special guests are on hand to throw out ceremonial first pitches, and prizes are given away during the games.      

The second half of the softball challenge doubleheader will be held March 6, at 3 p.m. in Summit. The baseball teams will begin their half of the Challenge on March 6 when the Bears travel to Wesson for a single nine-inning game set for a 6 p.m. first pitch. The final round of the baseball Challenge will be held at Southwest in Summit and March 27, with the doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m.