Vicksburg beats Warren Central|Prep softball

Published 12:00 am Thursday, September 17, 2009

Six good innings by the Vicksburg Missy Gators were enough to counter a seventh-inning rally by Warren Central.

The Missy Gators got hits from nine of their 10 batters to beat the archrival Lady Vikes for the first time since 1996 with a 6-4 win Wednesday night at Halls Ferry Park’s softball field.

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The Lady Vikes (4-11, 1-1) did get some consolation as their four-run rally in the seventh cinched the division title over Vicksburg by the run differential tie-breaker. WC came into the game with a six-run cushion. They were down 6-0 after six complete as VHS pounded out 13 hits.

Vicksburg coach Michelle Fisackerly was still very happy to get the win for her seniors’ final home game.

“Really big win, I think it’s the first time Vicksburg has beaten WC since I was a senior in 1996,” Fisackerly said. “We came out and played. It definitely was our best game this season. We gave up the one shot late, but you can’t help that. She (Audrianna Ratliff) is a good hitter.”

Vicksburg shortstop Claire Ray, who finished with a single and a triple, was elated to have a win over WC.

“This was awesome. We brought it today,” Ray said. “We had hits from everybody and that’s something we’ve worked on in practice — placing the ball.”

Vicksburg had a hit in every inning and scored in three of its first five turns at bat. Savannah Pritchard knocked in the first run after Blake DeRossette and Lea Davies had singled with two outs. In the third, Ray tripled to left-center and DeRossette followed with an RBI hit to right center to make it 2-0.

It stayed that way until the fifth when DeRossette led off with a triple and then scored on Davies’ hit to right. After an error and a single by Sydney Bufkin, Kelli Brewer brought Davies in with a hit just over the WC infield to make it 5-0. Bufkin came home on Faith Thomas’ fielder’s choice for a 6-0 lead.

Vicksburg (6-6, 1-1) had just one error through six innings, but nerves started to fray in the seventh after Ratliff belted a two-out triple to seal WC’s division title, scoring Krista Cortezie. A dropped relay at second allowed Ratliff to score and keep WC’s comeback hopes alive.

WC got two more runs through some more shaky play but Ray ended things when she caught a pop up to end the game.

WC coach Lucy Young said her team needed to start its rally sooner.

“We did this yesterday at Northwest. We waited until the seventh inning to start playing with some intensity,” Young said. “We finished up good. But we still didn’t hit the ball like we need to. We’re a base-hitting team, not a long-ball team. Vicksburg played great and they hit the ball.”

The Missy Gators outhit WC 13-4. DeRossette led the way, going 3-for-4 with a triple, two runs scored and an RBI. Ray had two hits as did Davies. Ratliff’s triple led WC.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com