New Hope High School fast-pitch softball coach Tabitha Beard can be difficult to please.
Tuesday night was not one of those nights.
New Hope scored seven first-inning runs and cruised to a 10-1 win over Neshoba Central in its Class 5A, Region 3 opener at Lady Trojan Field.
“I am very pleased tonight,” Beard said. “I like 10 runs. I really like 10 runs in a district game. This is what we are capable of doing on offense.”
New Hope (10-3-1 overall, 1-0 region) took the upper hand in the three-team region race. The Lady Trojans did it rather quickly.
“The first inning we came out strong,” New Hope senior Anna McCrary said. “I think we were too confident because we slacked off after that. Throughout the game, though we hit some really hard balls but some of them were outs.
“It can be frustrating when the ball doesn’t find the hole. If we keep our head up and keep going strong, more of those hits will find the hole.”
D.J. Sanders set the tone at the plate and in the circle. Sanders finished with a perfect 4-for-4 night at the plate and went the distance with seven strikeouts in the circle.
“It is so important to win the first district game, especially when it is at home,” Beard said. “Not only did we get the win, but it was a nine-run margin of victory. That helps from a tie-breaking standpoint. I think they will be hard-pressed to beat us like this when we play again.”
New Hope pieced together four hits and took advantange of two Neshoba Central errors to rally from an early 1-0 deficit.
“The strong start really helped our confidence throughout the entire game,” New Hope junior Kasey Stanfield said. “When you get a big hit, it can get a rally going. After a few players hit, everybody does.”
McCrary said the early confidence boost allows the team to relax and play better in the field.
“When we score a bunch of runs like that it really helps our defense out,” McCrary said. “All you can think about is getting back in there to hit some more.”
Sanders and Stanfield each had run-producing hits in the first inning. A three-run double by Lauren Holifield was the big blow in the inning.
Stanfield and Holifield each added multiple hits to a 10-hit attack.
“Even though its a cliche, hitting really is contagious,” Stanfield said. “Even when we made outs tonight, everybody was up in the dugout.”
New Hope returns to region play Thursday at Starkville.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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