Richarde’s Perfection Propels Lady Wolves to Sweep

MERIDIAN – The Co-Lin Softball team opened MACCC play on the road against Meridian on Saturday, March 8. The Lady Wolves swept the Lady Eagles with a perfect game in a 2-0 game one win, and then slugged their way to an 8-2 win in game two.

GAME ONE

The Lady Wolves got their first run on the board in the bottom of the first as Olivia Banes (Pelahatchie) stepped with one out, took one swing of the bat, and crushed a solo home run to give the Lady Wolves a 1-0 lead.

The Lady Wolves then played solid defense behind their starting pitcher Emily Richarde (Lakeland, TN) as she retired 18 straight batters in six innings including four innings with two strikeouts each before the Lady Wolves added a second run in the top of the seventh. Emeri Warren (Sebastopol) hit a leadoff double to get the offense going and then later in the inning scored on a two-out, pinch-hit, RBI-single by Noelle Laiche (Gonzales, LA) to give the Lady Wolves a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Lady Eagles went pop out, groundout, flyout to secure the game one win and perfect game for Richarde.

The Lady Wolves totaled seven hits as Brelie Phillips (Conehatta), Olivia Banes, Taylor Efferson (Holden, LA), Avery Williams (Olive Branch), Kynlee Madere (Paulina, LA), Emeri Warren, and Noelle Laiche had one hit each. Banes and Laiche had one RBI each.

Richarde finished her perfect game with nine strikeouts while improving to 6-0 overall.

GAME TWO

The second game of the day was a pitcher's duel through the first three innings despite the Lady Wolves getting a leadoff triple by Emeri Warren in the top of the second inning. The Lady Wolves broke the scoreless tie with four runs in the top of the fourth as Kynlee Madere hit a leadoff single to get the offense started while Warren drew a walk to put two runners on with no outs.

Later in the inning, Madere scored on a one-out, RBI-single by Noelle Laiche to give the Lady Wolves a 1-0 lead. Addison Lindley (Madison) then followed with a single while an error on the play allowed Warren and Laiche to score while Lindley advanced to third on the play. Lindley later scored on a two-out, RBI-double by Olivia Banes to increase the lead to 4-0.

The Lady Eagles then used a two-out, two-RBI double in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead down to 4-2. However, the Lady Wolves responded with a single run in the top of the fifth as Madere and Warren hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. Both runners then advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Stella Roberts (Raymond) while Madere then scored on a sacrifice fly by Laiche to make the score, 5-2. The Lady Wolves then added two runs in the top of the sixth as Brelie Phillips drew a leadoff walk while Banes reached on an error to put two runners on with no outs. Later in the inning, Phillips scored on an error after tagging up on a flyout while Banes then scored on a two-out, RBI-double by Madere giving the Lady Wolves a 7-2 lead.

The Lady Wolves added their final run in the top of the seventh as Phillips hit a two-out double and then scored on an RBI-single by Banes increasing the lead to 8-2. The Lady Eagles then went pop out, flyout, pop out in the top of the seventh to secure the game two victory and sweep for the Lady Wolves.

The Lady Wolves totaled 13 hits as Emeri Warren and Kynlee Madere had three hits each while Olivia Banes had two hits with Brelie Phillips, Taylor Efferson, Avery Williams, Noelle Laiche, and Addison Lindley had one hit apiece. Banes and Laiche led the Lady Wolves in RBIs with two each while Madere had one RBI.

Taylor Efferson got the start and improved to 6-1 overall while pitching 5.2 innings and allowing two earned runs on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts while Keegan McCorkle (Tyronza, AR) earned her first save of the season while pitching 1.1 innings of scoreless and hitless relief with one strikeout.

Co-Lin improves to 15-3 overall, 2-0 in MACCC play, and will return to action hosting Coahoma on Tuesday, March 11. First pitch between the Lady Tigers and the Lady Wolves is set for 2 p.m., in Wesson.