Madison Central showed Warren Central too much power from both the pitching circle and the plate Thursday night at Lucy Young Field.

Madison pitcher Kelly Young tossed a one-hitter and struck out 12 in beating the Lady Vikes 7-0. Young also had four hits while Mari Ashtin Lovelace drove in four runs with an inside-the-park home run and a triple.

WC coach Dana McGivney said the Lady Jaguars (6-0) showed why they are one of the state’s elite programs.

“They are a top-10 team in the state and they showed it. Kelly is a really good pitcher. She hits her spots well and we didn’t hit. Had we not made a couple of errors, we may have kept the score down. That’s the main thing I’m looking for right now is to play error free defense,” McGivney said.

Madison Central coach Kayla Watkins said Young and Lovelace combined to have their best game of the season.

“Tonight, Kelly was phenomenal,” Watkins said. “And Mari Ashtin just crushed the ball. She had been out of the lineup for the past few games because she hadn’t been hitting it that well, but she came back well tonight.”

Warren Central (2-3) had two chances to make it a 4-1 game but came up empty. Through four innings, Young allowed only one walk and struck out eight. She didn’t allow a ball out of the infield.

That changed in the bottom of the fifth when Megan McCullough lined a hit into right center to break up Young’s no-hit bid. McCullough went to third on a wild pitch and a groundout, but Young came back to strike out Alexis Patterson to end the threat.

In the bottom of the sixth, Sydnei Smith drew a one-out walk. She stole second when Young threw late to first base and then went to third on a passed ball.

Smith then tagged up on Mallory Reynolds’ fly ball to center. Katelyn Murray made the catch in shallow center and threw a strike to catcher Bailey Stokes. Smith’s only option was to try to leap over Stokes, but couldn’t and was tagged out to end the inning and keep Madison ahead 4-0.

In the seventh, Madison finally got to Reynolds, who had come on in relief in the fourth inning. Brittany McBrain singled and Young followed with her fourth hit of the game.

After an out, Lovelace smashed a triple down the left field line. McBrain and Young scored easily. Lovelace circled home after an errant throw, one of three WC errors.

 In the second inning, Lovelace had her inside-the-park home run when her blast went to the fence in left. She also had two hard-hit balls to straight away center that were caught by Smith.

Madison finished with 12 hits, led by Young’s 4-for-4 game. Young also scored three runs, including one in the third on an RBI single from Megan Murray.

Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com