[9/8/04]Sarah Goff spent six innings Tuesday night sitting on the Brandon High bench.

The junior, a seldom-used varsity player, was called on in the top of the seventh and delivered with the poise of a senior starter.

Goff’s one-out single ignited a three-run rally that lifted the Lady Bulldogs (9-2) to a 7-4 win over Warren Central.

“She hasn’t played much, but she was hitting the ball well in the JV game,” Brandon coach Richard Joyner said. “We hadn’t been hitting much at the catcher’s spot, so we gave her a chance and she came through.”

An error put runners on first and second, and three straight singles and a sacrifice fly gave Brandon a three-run cushion.

Pitcher Melissa May retired the Lady Vikes in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the win. May allowed two runs in the first and third innings, but did not allow a WC run through the final four innings.

Warren Central (9-3) had runners on base in each of the final four innings.

“It wasn’t that we didn’t play well, we just didn’t play smart,” WC coach Lucy Young said. “We were trying to get it over their heads, and they have such great outfielders; they were catching everything.”

Cookie Johnson singled, tripled and drove in two runs, while Lauren Anderson had a single and two RBIs for Warren Central. Amanda Doyle singled twice and Shawn Johnson tripled.

Johnson reached third with two outs in the sixth inning, but May coaxed a lazy fly ball to right field by Anna Jones to end the threat.

May led Brandon with three hits, while Kala Griffin went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Lindsey Keys singled twice and drove in a run. Carmen Musgrove, daughter of former Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, singled three times in the victory.

“We played to their strength, hit too many to the shortstop and too many to the outfield,” Young said.

Warren Central took a 2-1 lead after the first on RBI singles by Johnson and Anderson.

Brandon bounced back to take a 4-2 lead after the second before the Lady Vikes scored two in the third.

WC is scheduled to play at Vicksburg on Thursday at 6 p.m.