| Third-seeded EMCC to open MACJC state softball tourney with Gulf Coast |
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.jpg "Image") The third-seeded EMCC Lady Lions begin play at this weekend’s MACJC State Softball Tournament by taking on Mississippi Gulf Coast Friday evening at 6 p.m. in Wesson. The two-day, single-elimination tournament will be hosted by Copiah-Lincoln Community College. Making the school’s first softball appearance in the state tournament since 2002, head coach Kate Neely’s 2009 Lady Lions enter postseason play sporting a 24-22 overall record, including Wednesday’s sweep at Hinds (6-3 & 10-1) and Monday’s tripleheader divisional home sweep of Mississippi Delta (3-0, 15-0 & 6-5). EMCC gained the No. 3 seed in this weekend’s tourney by finishing third in the MACJC’s North Division standings with a 15-9 league mark. Northwest Mississippi and Itawamba earned the North’s first and second seeds, respectively. The winner of Friday’s EMCC-MGCCC contest will advance to meet the winner of the Northwest-East Central game Saturday at 2 p.m. The championship game will follow at 4 p.m. Along with ICC and host Co-Lin, Pearl River and Northeast Mississippi round out the other bracket. Offensively at the plate, East Mississippi is led by sophomore first baseman Josie Matthews of Meridian. The former West Lauderdale High School standout is hitting a team-best .361 on the year and shares the club lead with four home runs, including a two-homer outing in her home finale against Delta earlier this week. Sophomore shortstop Summer Frost follows with a .353 batting average for the Lady Lions. The East Webster product leads the club with 34 runs scored and a dozen doubles for the season. Perhaps the hottest hitter down the stretch for EMCC has been sophomore outfielder Regan Shows of Beaumont. The former Perry Central standout by way of Jones County Junior College has raised her season’s average to .329 and shares the club lead with four round-trippers on the year. Also over the .300 mark on the year are freshman catcher Alex Shelton of West Point and freshman infielder Linsey Upton of New Hope at .318 and .309, respectively. Along with having scored 32 runs for the season, Shelton tops EMCC with 16 stolen bases. On the mound, the Lady Lions are paced by the starting tandem of sophomore Brooke Lee and freshman Courtney Nunn. One of four West Lauderdale products on the squad, Lee owns a 12-5 record on the year with a 2.96 earned run average. A multi-position player, she is also hitting .324 while having played second base and left field this season. Hailing from Jonesboro, La., Nunn is 10-12 with 152 strikeouts and a 2.52 ERA in her first year for East Mississippi. The right-hander ranks among the nation’s top 20 leaders in averaging better than a strikeout per inning. |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 23 April 2009 ) |
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