Danielle Klaus is safe at second base as the Franklin County shortstop Emma Harris loses the handle on the ball. The Lady Bulldogs won, 12-5, to sew up the division title. St. Al is the only team in Warren County to earn a playoff berth. (The Vicksburg Post/C. TODD SHERMAN)

[04/11/01] Mandy McGehee made sure St. Aloysius wouldn’t win the regular season division title.

The Franklin County senior struck out 16 in a 12-5 win over the Lady Flashes at Halls Ferry Park.

St. Al, the only Warren County team to advance to the state playoffs, will travel for the first round, most likely against defending state champion Newton County.

“I already know who they are,” St. Al coach Gene Rogilio said. “We’re just going to come back ready for the next one.”

A win over Franklin County would have given the Lady Flashes a first-round series at home, but McGehee got out of several jams throughout the night.

She struck out three in each of the first four innings, and stranded nine Lady Flashes (11-5, 8-2 Division 7-1A) on base, including the bases loaded once.

“She is the backbone of this team, I’ll tell ya,” Franklin County coach Leigh Anne Mason said of the Millsaps signee.

Laura Beth Lyons, who pitched the Lady Flashes into the playoffs on Monday, allowed three runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings to take the loss.

“They hit the ball well,” Rogilio said of the Lady Bulldogs’ (11-4, 10-0) 12-hit attack. “(Laura Beth) was a bit tired from last night. But we won the game we had to.”

Franklin County, which beat St. Al in their first meeting, fell behind 3-1 going into the third inning.

Danielle Klaus, who had two hits, drilled a two-RBI single in the first for an early 2-0 lead.

Kelly Haden singled and scored on an error in the bottom of the second inning.

“It takes a little time for us to get started,” Mason said. “We’ve been struggling defensively and been up and down.”

An RBI flyout and groundout in the top of the third gave Franklin County its first lead, 4-3, and did not trail the rest of the way.

A four-hit fourth inning gave the visitors a 7-3 lead, only to add three in the sixth for a 10-3 lead.

Three errors, a passed ball and a walk in the bottom of the sixth cut the Franklin County lead to 10-5.. The Lady Flashes stranded runners on first and third.

An error, wild pitch and RBI singles by Christy Day and Kristin Lovett closed out the scoring.

The first round of the state playoffs is scheduled for Monday.

Madison Central 4, VHS 0

The Vicksburg Missy Gators ended their season with a strong effort Tuesday, but came up short against Madison Central.

Emily Mathes allowed only one earned run, walked none and struck out five, but four errors hurt VHS.

Three errors in the fourth inning helped break a scoreless tie and gave the Lady Jaguars a 3-0 lead.

“Things just snowballed, just like it did most of the season,” VHS coach Josh Harper said.

VHS managed to get all five of its hits in the last three innings, but couldn’t get the big hit to get on the scoreboard.

PCA 20, UC 12

Jessica Lord went 3-for-4 with a double, two triples and four RBIs, and Courtney Angel hit a home run over the fence to lead Porters Chapel (3-5) past University Christian.

The Lady Eagles have won two in a row.

Angel went 3-for-3 with the homer, two singles and three RBIs, and was also the winning pitcher. Kala White went 4-for-4 with a triple and an RBI for PCA, which blew the game open with seven runs in the second inning and nine more in the third.

PCA hosts Tri-County Tuesday at 4 p.m.