Two more wins.
At the beginning of the season, all Heritage Academy fast-pitch softball coach Gary Harris knew for certain was that two was the number of victories his team had in 2011.
In July, Harris wasn’t sure how many victories the 2012 squad was going to get, but he knew his players were going to work hard to build a program.
Two-plus month into his tenure, Harris can’t help but admire how far the Lady Patriots have come. Despite a 17-7 loss to Winston Academy on Thursday, Heritage Academy (10-7) is in position to keep its season alive and reach a goal Harris wasn’t sure was attainable when the season started. Heritage Academy will take on Washington School at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA North State tournament in Greenville.
Two victories would help Heritage Academy advance to Monday’s action, where it would battle to determine the seedings for the top four teams in the overall Class AAA State tournament next weekend.
“We took it on the chin tonight. We had two bad innings, but in the growing process of this team they’re tough and you have to understand you’re going to have those moments,” Harris said. “We have double digit wins and a winning season. To be honest with you, I didn’t know if we were good enough to do that. But the kids bought in and worked hard and won a lot of one-run games. That shows some guts and some character from kids who have basically never been in that situation.
“I told them tonight this has been one of the most fun seasons I have had in coaching because we have gotten so much out of these kids and they have played more to their potential than a lot of teams I have had. They have been kind of fearless. They just really responded. They have wanted to be coached and have been hungry to be pushed and to be challenged, and they have responded to it. We’re not to the level we need to be to compete for a state championship, but we’re a lot closer than when I started.
On Thursday, Winston Academy used an 11-run sixth inning to break open a back-and-forth game. Harris said the Lady Patriots could have escaped the sixth with minimal damage had they made one more play, but the inning snowballed and nothing seemed to go right.
Despite the setback, Harris feels the loss will help his team, especially since Winston Academy beat Heritage Academy 9-0 earlier in the season.
“We stood toe to toe with them for five innings,” Harris said. “They are a pretty good softball team, and they really hammered us the last time we played them. … I told the kids the good thing is we played a good team right before the state tournament and, hopefully, we got some of the bad ones out of the way and maybe we learned some things tonight. The game put us in some situations that I hope will help us this weekend.”
Brooklyn Waldrep and Caitlin McLain had, Katlyn Petty had a double, and Madison Sears had two singles and a double.
n On Wednesday, Heritage Academy beat Starkville Academy Starkville 6-3 in a makeup game. Sears earned the victory in the circle. Waldrep, McLain, Sears, and Petty had singles, while Shiloh Ellis had a triple and two RBIs. Sears and Petty also had RBIs.
The victory helped the Lady Patriots sweep three games from the Lady Volunteers. They outscored the Lady Volunteers 28-10 in those games.
“It has been a great ride,” Harris said. “I want them to feel what it is like to go to the state tournament. We can still be successful next season without (going to the state tournament this season), but it will help it sink in. It will give them a goal that says we got there this year and let’s get there and do some damage next year.”
Soccer
n Manchester Academy 1, Immanuel Christian 0: At Yazoo City, Senior goalkeeper Taylor Kidder had 20 saves in the Lady Rams’ road loss Thursday.
Immanuel Christian (3-3) had 10 shots in the loss. It will play host to Indianola Academy at 4 p.m. Tuesday. It will play River Oaks (La.) in a doubleheader at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. The MAIS Class AA playoffs will begin Oct. 1.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.