WC earns playoff spot with 16-5 win over VHS

Published 12:00 am Thursday, October 2, 2003

Vicksburg pitcher Kelli Outzs, left, talks with assistant coach Kori Crutchfield during the Missy Gators’ 16-5 loss to Warren Central on Wednesday. (Jenny SevcikThe Vicksburg Post)

[10/2/03]With a seven-run fifth inning against Vicksburg, the Warren Central softball team clinched a playoff berth and at least a tie with Natchez for the division title.

Led by a hitting barrage, Warren Central notched a lopsided, 16-5 victory over Vicksburg on Wednesday at Lady Vikes Field.

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“This definitely puts us in the playoffs,” WC coach Lucy Young said. “Nothing was decided until tonight. This made it for sure.”

The Lady Vikes, barring a loss by Natchez to Vicksburg, will earn the second seed in the upcoming playoffs.

The Missy Gators opened the game with a run when Kelli Ouzts singled in Lindsay Jones.

In the bottom half, WC responded with a seven-hit, five-run outburst.

Cookie Johnson doubled in two runs, Tranyce Peoples hit a sacrifice fly to bring in a third and Anna Jones followed with a two-out, two-RBI single.

The Lady Vikes took a 6-1 lead in the second inning when Brittany Fuller’s sacrifice fly brought in Kristen Ashley.

“Our hitting is coming on. We’ve been working real hard on it and tonight it paid off,” Young said.

Vicksburg brought the game within reach in the top of the fourth. Cherelle Stamps, Whitney Smith and Heather Shelby each singled in a run and Ouzts scored on an error as the Missy Gators trimmed the deficit to 6-5. But it wasn’t enough.

“We came ready,” said outfielder Amanda Doyle, who singled, walked and scored twice. “We know what we did last time to them. We came fast so we could get first or second (in the division) for the playoffs.”

Young said the Meridian Community College tournament last weekend helped her players hit better by facing good teams.

“It helped me a lot,” agreed Doyle, who was placed at leadoff for the first time in the tournament. “It helped me with my batting getting to play better teams.”

And it was Warren Central’s bats that won the game.

In the bottom of the fourth, WC fired back with three runs. The Lady Vikes then sealed the game on the 10-run rule with seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.

“They just came out hitting,” Vicksburg coach Laquitta Smith said.

With the loss, the Missy Gators (0-3 in Division 6-5A) fall out of contention for the postseason, but Smith remained optimistic about her team’s future.

“I just have a young team, but they’ll come around,” she said. “They’ve got to grow.”