| EMCC Lady Lions sweep Holmes to set up first-place softball showdown with Itawamba |
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SCOOBA – With 27 total hits on the day, the Lady Lions of East Mississippi Community College swept visiting Holmes, 11-5 and 7-3, Wednesday afternoon in MACJC North Division softball action played at the EMCC Softball Field.
Improving to 18-17 overall and a league-leading 14-2 in division play, head coach Kate Neely’s EMCC squad will now face second-place Itawamba (22-13, 13-3) in a first-place showdown doubleheader Thursday afternoon (3 p.m.) in Fulton. Also slated to play host to ICC in their April 22 regular-season finale in Scooba, the Lady Lions are bidding for their first MACJC North Division softball title since 2001. In Wednesday’s opener against Holmes, EMCC overcame an early 5-2 deficit to score seven runs on six hits in the third inning en route to the 11-5 triumph. Aided by run-producing singles by sophomores Nashedra Barry, Cayla Coleman and DeShuni Sanders, the Lady Lions sent a dozen batters to the plate in the third to break open the contest. All 13 EMCC hits in the opener were singles, as everyone in the starting lineup accounted for at least one hit. Sanders, a New Hope High School product, led the way with a 3-for-5 effort in the first game. She followed with a 3-for-4 outing in the nightcap while scoring five total runs in the twinbill sweep. Fellow sophomore Mallory Pace also added three singles in the first contest on the way to a collective 5-for-7 afternoon at the plate. Freshman right-hander Amy Johnson was steady once again in the circle for the Lady Lions, throwing a pair of complete-game victories to improve to 13-9 on the season. The Starks, La., native fanned a total of 13 batters on the day while walking just three over 14 innings of work. EMCC never trailed in the nightcap, plating a solo run in the first, followed by three tallies in the third, a pair of scores in the fourth and an unearned insurance run in the sixth frame. Led by Sanders, Pace and Courtney Castleberry all with 3-for-4 efforts at the plate, the Lady Lions featured five different players with multiple-hit outings in the second contest on the way to banging out 14 hits as a team. Barry and Leigh Ellen Barefield added two hits apiece for the winners in the nightcap. Following Thursday’s crucial doubleheader at Itawamba, the EMCC Lady Lions will play their third division twinbill in a four-day span by traveling to Clarksdale to face Coahoma Saturday afternoon. |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 14 April 2011 ) |
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