CLEVELAND — It took nearly 12 hours and five consecutive games, but the Central Academy fast-pitch softball team earned a spot in the Mississippi Association of Independent School Class AA State tournament.
Central Academy rebounded from a loss in its second game of the North Half State tournament Tuesday to win three games in a row before losing 8-0 to Bayou Academy.
That game ended shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday, nearly 12 hours before the Lady Vikings took the field against Tri-County for their first game of the day at 10:30 a.m.
Central Academy (21-7) won that game 8-1 behind the pitching of Lillian Lindsey.
But the Lady Vikings lost their next game to Delta Academy 3-0 and fell into the losers” bracket of the double-elimination tournament.
Central Academy rallied, though, defeating Marvell Academy 12-0, Greenville Christian 6-3, and Delta Academy 4-0 to clinch second place and a trip Saturday to Liberty Field in Ridgeland.
The times for the games in the four-team tournament will be determined.
Against Tri-County, Corey Dawkins had two singles and a double, Blake Rigdon had a single, Kellie Hailey had a single, Kendall Taylor had two singles, Alex Dawkins had a single and a double, and Megan Banks had a single.
Alex Dawkins took the loss against the Delta Academy Raiders. Corey Dawkins and Rigdon had the team”s only hits.
Marion Colvin earned the victory against Marvell Academy.
Corey Dawkins, Hailey, Taylor, and Banks singled, Rigdon, Colvin, and Alex Dawkins had two singles, and Lindsey had a two-run, inside-the-park home run.
Lindsey improved to 10-3 by beating Greenville Christian.
Rigdon and Hailey singled, Taylor had a double and a triple, and Julianna Persons had two singles.
Colvin (7-2) earned the clinching victory against Delta Academy.
Corey Dawkins, Rigdon, Hailey, Alex Dawkins, and Marion Colvin singled, while Lindsey had a triple.
Alex Dawkins (3-2) suffered the loss against Bayou Academy that ended the Lady Vikings” day.
Corey Dawkins had two singles and Taylor added a single.
In addition to advancing to the overall state tournament, Central Academy had seniors Alex Dawkins and Lillian Lindsey selected to the North Half All-Star team, a group of 15 players from Classes AAA, AA, and A that will play against a team of All-Stars from the South on Oct. 14 at Mississippi College.
n Oak Hill Academy eliminated: At Batesville, the Oak Hill Academy softball team has its season come to an end as it was eliminated from the MAIS Class AA North State Tournament on Tuesday.
Oak Hill lost Indianola Academy 4-3 in eight innings, beat Carroll Academy 5-3 and lost to Indianola Academy 3-2.
Oak Hill”s Anna Lummus sprained her ankle and Lauren Hitt broke her leg in the first game.
“Losing two starters in the first game really hurt us, but it gave us a chance to play some younger players,” said Oak Hill coach Marion Bratton.
In the first game against Indianola, Mamie Allen was a tough-luck loser as the she didn”t give up an earned run. She allowed only four hits, while she struck out 10 and didn”t walk a batter.
The leading hitters for the Lady Raiders were Maegen Ellis with three hits, Megan Holton and Abby Falkner with two each and Hitt and Lummus with one each.
Against Carroll, Allen struck out 10, walked two and allowed six hits.
Allen, Ellis, Holton and Hunter Coleman had two hits, while Falkner and Ann Stevens had one each.
Oak Hill (12-11) only managed singles by Allen and Ellis in the final game against Indianola.
Allen allowed four hits, while she struck out seven and walked one.
n Hebron Christian has season come to end: At Cleveland, the Hebron Christian Lady Eagles had the season come to an end in the MAIS Class A North StateTournament.
Hebron Christian beat Benton Academy 7-4 and theen lost 5-0 to Bayou Academy and 4-3 to Greenville Christian.
Chloe Tapley was the pitcher all three games for Hebron Christian (13-11).
n Saltillo 8, New Hope 6: The New Hope Lady Trojans” bid for a come-from-behind win came up short against Saltillo.
New Hope scored four runs in the fifth inning and two in the seventh after falling behind 7-0 through four inniings.
The leading hitters for New Hope were Haley Tutor with an RBI double, two singles and two RBIs, Lauren Holifield with a triple and single, Anna Holley, Anna McCrary and Jessica Moore with two singles each, Brandi Brantley with a double and Kayla Scarborough with a single.
On Monday, New Hope split a doubleheader with Grenada, winning 8-4 and losing 7-4.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.