Pearl River softball honors sophomore class with sweep of Delta
POPLARVILLE, Miss.— The Pearl River Lady Wildcats honored their 2019 sophomore class Friday afternoon with a convincing sweep of visiting Mississippi Delta 10-2 in five innings and 7-4.
The Lady Wildcats (23-19 overall, 13-13 MACJC) held a Sophomore Day ceremony following the doubleheader.
"We knew coming in today that this doubleheader was very important for us in terms of playing in the postseason," PRCC coach Leigh White said. "The girls knew what kind of fight we had to put up because Delta will get in there and put up a good fight.
"This class means a lot to me. They finished fourth in the state last year and they know what it takes to get there. They work hard everyday for us."
With the win, Pearl River's postseason hopes remain alive. The Lady Wildcats will need to sweep Sunday's 2 p.m. doubleheader against Coahoma at Lady Wildcat Stadium to secure a spot in next week's MACJC playoffs.
"It's go time," White said.
Game 1: PRCC 10, MDCC 2
Reigning MACJC Player of the Week Mary Grace Turner (Leakesville; Greene County) got the scoring started for the Lady Wildcats with an RBI single in the bottom of the first.
Dallas Blaker (Bay St. Louis; Our Lady Academy) followed that up with a two-run single to give the Lady Wildcats a 3-0 lead.
BreAnna Corkern (Watson, La.; Live Oak) hit an RBI single to extend PRCC lead to four.
Elizabeth Taggard (Picayune) then extended the PRCC lead by two with a two-run double.
In the bottom of the second inning Corkern plated a run with a sacrifice fly to give PRCC a seven run lead.
A sacrifice fly and an error plated two more runs for the Lady Wildcats in the bottom of the third and the rout was on.
Delta (10-36, 6-23) finally got on the board in the top of the fifth, plating two runs to make it a 9-2 contest.
The Lady Wildcats ended the game scoring the final run in the bottom of the fifth off a Brooke Fagan (Kiln; Hancock) single.
Blaker, Fagan and Taggard all led the team in hits and RBIs with two each.
"We just kept scoring and kept putting them away," White said. "We just kept putting them under with our hitting."
Reigning MACJC Pitcher of the Week Grace Stringer (Moselle; South Jones) picked up her 12th win of the season.
Stringer pitched five innings, allowing seven hits and two earned runs while striking out three.
Game 2: PRCC 7, MDCC 4
Delta opened the Game 2 scoring by pushing across a single run in the first.
The Lady Wildcats didn't wait long to respond hitting back to back home runs from Taggard and Turner in the bottom of the first to take a 2-1 lead.
Taggard added to the lead in the bottom of the third with a two-run double to extend the lead to 4-1.
Turner followed that up with a massive three-run bomb to left field to give PRCC the 7-1 lead.
Delta chipped away at the lead plating three runs in the top of the fourth inning but were unable to rally giving the Lady Wildcats a 7-4 victory.
Taggard and Turner led the team in hits with two each while Turner also lead the team in RBIs with four.
Taggard also had three RBIs.
"Those two kids are hard to pitch to," White said. "They get in the box and rip and they have a good presence in the box. When they hit those back to back home runs I think it kind of picked us up."
Rylee Swilley (Kiln; Hancock) got the start for the Lady Wildcats in the circle.
Swilley pitched four innings, allowing four hits, two runs and three earned runs.
"Our defense was behind Rylee today," White said. "They helped her get out of some jams but she kept going out there and throwing it and doing what we asked."
Blaker pitched the rest of the game, going three innings allowing only two hits.
"Dallas came in and shut them down and did a good job," White said. "She kept them off balance and closed it out for us. It was a good day."
The Pearl River Lady Wildcats softball team honored its 2019 sophomore class after sweeping Mississippi Delta Friday (KRISTI HARRIS/PRCC ATHLETICS)
After the sweep the Lady Wildcats honored their sophomore class which includes Jordan Lee (Redwood; Tri-County), Neely McLeod (Lucedale; George County), Krista Robles (Destrehan, La.), Jada Walker (Lizanna; West Harrison), Ashley Terwilliger (Saucier; Harrison Central), Alyssa Pinero (Picayune), Swilley, Turner, Blaker and Taggard.
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