CLARKSDALE, Miss. – The No. 5 Pearl River softball team clicked on all cylinders in a sweep of Coahoma in Clarksdale on Saturday. The Wildcat offense had twenty-one hits, and the defense held the Tigers hitless in a 21-0 game one five-inning win. Pearl River carried the momentum to game two with another five-inning victory, 11-0.
“I thought we really did a good job of putting things together and working on the little things. I am proud of the girls and what they did,” Pearl River head coach Christie Meeks said. “It is not easy to go on the road for five hours, get off the bus, and have the energy they had today. It was a great day.”
GAME ONE
The Pearl River (36-7 overall; 18-4 MACCC) offense opened the game by firing on all cylinders against Coahoma (0-24 overall; 0-16 MACCC). Morgan Lavernge (Baton Rouge, La.; Central) singled to left and advanced to third on the throw to open the game. Following walks by Natalie Toups (Brandon; Clinton Christian Academy) and Lainee Bailey (Walker, La.), Bryn Daughtery (Vancleave) sent a double to left field, clearing the bases to give the Wildcats an early 3-0 lead. Caroline Lindsey (Gulfport) scored Daughtery on a line drive double to left field, 4-0. Caitlyn Riche (Walker, La.) walked to give the Wildcats runners on first and second, and Charlee Meadows (Piave; Greene County) singled to load the bases for Pearl River. Lavernge drew a bases-loaded walk in her second at-bat of the inning to score Riche, 5-0. In the next Wildcat at-bat, Toups tripled on a line drive to left field, clearing the bases and extending the Wildcat lead to eight. Bailey closed out the scoring in the top of the first inning with a single to left field, scoring Toups, 9-0.
Pearl River’s pitcher, Bailey, opened the game with a strong bottom half of the frame, striking out two of the three Coahoma batters faced.
Lindsey picked up her second hit of the game to open the second inning with a single to center field. With Lindsey on second and Riche on first following a Coahoma error, Ryleigh Wallace (Petal) delivered with a line drive single to center field to score Lindsey, 10-0. Lavergne singled to left field to score Riche, 11-0, and CC Spiers (Leakesville; Greene County) pinch-hitting for Toups scored Wallace on an infield single, 12-0. Bailey scored Meadows on a fielder’s choice to the shortstop and Daughtery brought Lavergne home with a line drive single to the shortstop, 14-0.
Bailey struck out the side in the bottom of the second and struck out three of the four batters she faced in the bottom of the third to keep Coahoma off the scoreboard, 14-0.
Daughtery reached second in the top of the fourth with a double to left field. Daughtery scored when Taryn Jackson (Hattiesburg; Oak Grove) reached base on an error by the Coahoma third baseman, 15-0. In the next at-bat, Lindsey scored Jackson with a single to left field, 16-0. Riche closed out the scoring in the top of the fourth with an RBI single to left field, 17-0.
Madelyn Bourgoyne (Walker, La.) and Spiers opened the top of the fifth with back-to-back walks. Ashlyn Dean (Vancleave), pinch-hitting for Hoffmayer, doubled on a line drive to center field, scoring Bourgoyne 18-0. After back-to-back Wildcat batters, Daughtery and Alexa Womack (Prairieville, La.; Dutchtown) were hit by pitches, Hoffmayer doubled to center field, scoring Spiers and Dean, 20-0. Riche singled to left field to score Womack, giving Pearl River a 21-0 victory.
Daughtery was 4-for-4 from the plate in the game with two runs scored and four RBIs. Lavergne went 2-for-2 with three runs scored and two RBI. Toups was 1-for-1 with two runs scored and three RBIs. Lindsey was 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs, and Riche batted 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs.
Bailey was dominant on the mound for the Wildcats, with eight strikeouts and no hits in three innings.
“I was proud of Lainee starting off, pitching three innings. She was really competitive, under control and in charge,” Meeks said.
Hoffmayer was solid in relief, pitching two innings with no hits and striking out one.
“Hoffmayer coming in, pitching two innings, and getting ground balls and popups was huge,” Meeks said.
GAME TWO
The Wildcat offense picked up where it left off in game one, plating four runs in the first inning. Daughtery continued to have the hot bat, scoring Bailey on an RBI double to open the scoring, 1-0. Hoffmayer followed with an infield single to score Daughtery, 2-0. Lindsey reached base on an error by the Coahoma center fielder, scoring Hoffmayer, 3-0, and a Womack triple on a line drive to left field scored Lindsey, giving the Wildcats a four-run first inning, 4-0.
Pitcher Natalie Herrington (Petal) kept the Coahoma offense off balance, striking out three batters in the first two innings.
Hoffmayer added to the Wildcat lead with a solo home run in the top of the third inning, extending the Pearl River lead to five.
The Wildcat offense kept rolling in the top of the fourth. Meadows opened the inning with an infield single. Toups scored Meadows on a fielder’s choice, 6-0. Toups advanced to third on an errant throw. Bailey singled left field in the next at-bat, bringing Toups across the plate, 7-0. Hoffmayer continued with the hot bat in game two, tripling to center, scoring Bailey and Daughtery, 9-0.
Herrington faced three batters in the bottom of the frame, striking out two, bringing her strikeout total to six for the game.
The Wildcats padded the lead in the top of the fifth, bringing the lead to 11 runs. Dean, pinch-hitting for Klair Cuevas (Poplarville; Hancock), was hit by a pitch to open the inning. With runners on first and second and two outs, Anna Kate Rounsaville (Gulfport) singled to left field, scoring Bourgoyne, 10-0. Daughtery followed with an infield single to third base, scoring Lavernge, 11-0.
Daughtery entered the game in relief of Herrington in the bottom of the fifth, striking out one batter and securing the Wildcat victory 11-0.
Hoffmayer was 3-for-3 from the plate with one home run, two runs scored and three RBIs. Bailey was 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI. Daughtery batted 2-for-3, two runs scored and had two RBIs. Daughtery was 6-for-7 on the day with six RBIs and four runs scored.
“Bryn has been working really hard. She was calm, cool, and collected on the plate today,” Meeks commented. “She was able to take a couple of extra bases; it shows how hard she has been working, and it showed in the little things she did.”
Herrington picked up the win, pitching four innings, striking out six, and not allowing a hit.
“I thought she did a great job of being really sharp on the day, cleaning up some of her pitches,” Meeks said.
The Wildcats allowed only one hit over two games, striking out 16 Tiger batters.
“I thought our pitchers did a fantastic job utilizing today to get back on track,” Meeks said.
Offensively, the Wildcats displayed power and opportunistic hitting. Pearl River scored 32 runs on 34 hits.
“It was an entire team effort; players who came in off the bench were getting on as well. They got the job done really well,” Meeks commented.
NEXT UP
The Wildcats will travel to Decatur to face No. 12 East Central on Wednesday. Gametimes are 3/5 p.m., and you can follow the action at ECCCLive.com.
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