STARKVILLE — It”s a good sign when a team has its best performance of the season in the heart of division play.
Columbus High School fast-pitch softball coach Rusty Greene left Starkville a happy man after watching the Lady Falcons beat Starkville High 7-0 on Thursday.
Columbus pitcher Whitney Kyles pitched five shutout innings in her first appearance in the circle this season, and teammates Teaunna Edwards and Porsha Brooks preserved the shutout in relief.
Kyles also added a pair of hits to help her cause.
Kierra Erby had three hits to help the Lady Falcons avenge a 9-5 extra-innings loss to the Lady Yellow Jackets earlier this season.
“We haven”t been able to throw strikes up until tonight,” Greene said. “We got out there the last two days — I”d never been a fast-pitch coach — and I said I”m gonna figure out how to throw a ball like they do. I bet I threw a thousand in the last two days. Just me and (Kyles) and me and (Brooks) who came in. And Whitney came out and threw strikes. We made every play they hit to us and played great defense. This win is big. I”m proud of them.”
Columbus (3-8, 1-1 Class 6A, Division 2) will look to carry that momentum into today”s game against Tupelo.
The Lady Falcons plated a pair of runs in the first and one in the second but didn”t put the game out of reach until the fifth. Erby and Brooks opened the inning with back-to-back hits before T”Keyia Davis misplayed a groundball at third and Sasha Shurden missed a throw at home to bring in two Columbus runs.
A wild pitch from Jadee Sexton plated a run in the sixth.
“I said, ”Lets play ball and I”m gonna trust your instincts,” and we ran the bases well,” Greene said. “We had a couple of runs into outs, but for the most part we bunted well and put the ball in play.”
Starkville coach Mimi Milling said the two errors in the fifth were disappointing. The Lady Yellow Jackets had three errors in the game.
Her team”s inability to generate offense was disappointing too, especially after Kyles and middle reliever Edwards walked six in the fifth and sixth.
Starkville (5-9, 1-3) loaded the bases in each of the two frames but had just one hit.
“It”s more than disappointing because the girls really want it and we just couldn”t pull it together tonight,” Milling said. “We just didn”t hit tonight.”
Brooks struck out the side in the seventh.
Starkville will try to rebound today when it plays at South Panola, which beat Starkville 16-0 on March 31.
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