The second season begins today.
The Hebron Christian and Starkville Academy fast-pitch softball teams will represent the area in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools North and South State tournaments at Bayou Academy and Jackson Prep, respectively.
Hebron Christian (13-6) will take on host school Bayou Academy at 9 a.m. today in the Class A double-elimination event. The winner of that game will advance to play the winner of the Lee Academy (Ark.)-Benton Academy game at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
Starkville Academy (14-17) will play Jackson Prep at 10:30 this morning in the Class AAA event. The winner will advance to play Copiah Academy at 1:30 p.m.
Both events will continue through today to Monday, when the top finishers will advance to the overall state tournament.
“I think everybody there is pretty even,” Hebron Christian coach Cass Tapley said. “Bayou has the pedigree. They’re going to be a good team, but they’re going to have to bring their ‘A’ game, which is the same with us. We’re so young we might go beat anybody and we might lose to anybody. We’re not going there to phone it in. We’re going there to play.”
Hebron Christian lost to Winona Christian on Tuesday to slip to the No. 2 seed in the district. It closed the regular season Wednesday with a victory against Oak Hill Academy. District MVP Chloe Tapley struck out eight against Oak Hill Academy and nine against Winona Christian. Tori Nichols, Beverly Blake, and Alaina Hill also earned all-district honors, while Blake, a shortstop, was selected to the Senior All-Star game at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 12 at Mississippi College.
“She has done well,” coach Tapley said of Blake. “As of last week she was leading the team in batting average at .480. She has a couple of game-winning hits and she has played well at shortstop (in her first season at the position).”
Tapley also praised Blake and Nichols for their senior leadership in helping such a young team adjust to playing high school softball. He said the Lady Eagles have had many of the ups and downs he expected them to have at the beginning of the season. Now he is anxious to see how the younger players respond to their first time on a bigger stage.
“They have done the best they could, and they’re going to get better,” Tapley said.
Starkville Academy coach Kayla Mosley also feels her team has the potential to advance out of the South State tournament. Starkville Academy split its two regular-season games against Jackson Prep, winning 4-3 in Starkville and losing 1-0. Senior Julianne Jackson pitched in both games, and Mosley said the Lady Volunteers have a chance any time she is in the circle. The key, she said, will be focusing on the game at hand, not the bigger picture and the what ifs.
“We made some adjustments and I think we have our best players playing their best game and everybody is doing their part,” said Mosley, who is in her first season as coach. “Hopefully we will go into this tournament playing the best game we can play. Hopefully we will peak right now.”
Mosley said the Lady Volunteers have cut down on errors and have improved their defense against the bunt, or a small-ball attack. She said another key will be delivering key hits on offense and capitalizing on the other team’s mistakes.
“I think they have gotten better as season has gone on,” Mosley said. “They have learned to quit looking ahead at the big picture and to just take care of the business that is right in front of us.”
Central Academy’s Waggoner will play in All-Star game
The Central Academy fast-pitch softball team (10-15) finished third in its district and missed out on the postseason, but the season will continue for Logan Waggoner.
The senior shortstop, who transferred from Heritage Academy before the start of the 2011 slow-pitch softball season, will represent the Lady Vikings in the Class A Senior All-Star game at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 12 at Mississippi College.
“She batted well and played great defense. She always has,” Central Academy coach Sammy Lindsey said. “She got a lot of clutch hits (in No. 3 hole) and put the ball in play. She only struck out a few times.”
Lindsey also praised the leadership of Waggoner, the only senior on the team. With only 11 players on the team, Lindsey said Waggoner often played other positions like catcher or third base in the ‘B’ game to fill out the roster.
“She has had a good season,” Lindsey said. “She can pretty much play anywhere. She enjoys moving around. She was a leader by example, and she knew that was going to be part of her job even before I talked to her about it. She didn’t let the fact that she was here for only a year make her reluctant to be a leader. She was proud to take that role.”
Volleyball
n Caledonia 3, Amory 0: At Amory, Stevi Carter had eight kills and an ace Thursday to lead the Lady Confederates to their sweep. Set scores were 25-16, 25-20, 25-13.
Morgan Smith had seven aces, nine assists, and one block, Elisabeth Shepherd had one kill, one assist, five aces, and one dig, Elisha Collins had one ace and two kills, Ashley Langford had four aces, Sarah Freeman had one kill, one ace, and one block, and Cara Hopper had one ace, and Clara Wallace had one dig.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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