NWCC Lady Rangers Place Third In State Tourny
The Northwest Mississippi Community College Lady Ranger softball team placed third at the MACJC State Tournament April 24-25 at Wesson.
Northwest defeated East Central 7-4 on the first day of the event, but fell to Gulf Coast 9-5 in the semi-finals.
The Lady Rangers, 27-9 overall, enter the Region XXIII Tournament as the number four seed and will take on number five seed Pearl River Thursday, April 30 at 3 p.m.
Northwest trailed East Central 4-2 in the state tournament going into the bottom of the fifth. That’s when the Lady Rangers exploded for five runs to claim the victory.
Freshman first baseman Angela Carden of Southaven led Northwest’s offensive attack with a two-run double, while freshman catcher Casi Brooks of Pope and sophomore pitcher Sarah Gill of Olive Branch added RBI-base hits.
Gill was the winning pitcher in the contest by throwing the complete game. Gill struck out seven and walked just one to improve her record to 25-4.
The Lady Rangers fell behind Gulf Coast 5-1 in the semi-finals, but pushed four runs across the plate in the third inning to tie the game.
Gulf Coast struck for three runs in the fourth and one more in the sixth to earn the win.
Northwest freshman Laina Collier of Oxford collected three RBI, while freshman second baseman Haylei Plummer of Pope hit a solo home run in the first inning.
