Missy Gators win own tournament
Published 10:14 pm Saturday, April 8, 2017
Vicksburg High’s softball team got a much-needed win Saturday.
Actually, it got three.
The Missy Gators beat Natchez, Riverside and Terry — the latter two in their final at-bat — to win their own tournament at the Softball Swamp.
The Missy Gators (4-8-1) run-ruled Natchez 10-0, then beat Riverside 15-14 in extra innings and Terry 8-7 with a walk-off two-run double by Kayla Foster. The victories replaced a four-game losing streak with a three-game winning streak in the span of a few hours.
“We beat two teams that beat us earlier. It’s a good time to start winning ballgames,” Vicksburg coach Brian Ellis said. “A win is a win at this time of the season. We hit the ball today, and for the most part made plays.”
All of the games were abbreviated from the usual seven innings because of either the mercy rule or a tournament time limit.
In the first game against Natchez, Vicksburg scored eight runs in the fourth inning to end the game via the run rule. Foster drove in two runs and scored one, and Jasmine Miller was 2-for-2 with two RBIs.
The Missy Gators scored 10 runs in the bottom of the first inning against Riverside, but let the lead slip away and had to scuffle for the win in extra innings.
Finally, against Terry, the Missy Gators prevailed in a back-and-forth game. Terry scored four runs in the top of the first and Vicksburg answered with four in the second to tie it. Terry regained the lead with three runs in the third inning, and then Vicksburg won it with three in the bottom of the fourth as the time limit expired.
A walk, two hit batters and a fielder’s choice led to one run and set the stage for Foster, who doubled to center field to score McKenzie Thomason and Abby Hasty with the tying and winning runs.
Lady Vikes split two
at Richland tourney
Warren Central scored plenty of runs Saturday, but only got one win to show for it.
Morgan Stewart went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, Megan Stewart scored three runs, and Kaitlyn Mitchell had two hits and two RBIs as the Lady Vikes beat Richland 14-12 in their first game at the Richland tournament.
Warren Central (10-9) scored five runs in the fifth inning to take a 13-7 lead, then gave up five in the bottom of the sixth. Pitcher Kaylee Hoeft worked around a leadoff single in the seventh inning to nail down the win.
In their second game of the day, the Lady Vikes lost 14-6 to Madison Central. Mia Wheeler went 4-for-5 with a double and three RBIs for Madison Central, which scored six runs in the top of the seventh inning to blow the game open.
Sarah Kate Smith was 4-for-4 for Warren Central, Morgan Stewart scored three runs, and Ashley Coley had two hits and two RBIs.