For the second-consecutive season, the screams from a bus leaving Lady Trojan Field will ring in the ears of the New Hope High School players.
This time, though, there was a weightier sense of finality for four seniors who saw their prep careers end without another shot at an elusive state championship.
Kayla McKinion pitched two complete games one day after allowing 11 hits in an opening-game loss, and the Neshoba Central High fast-pitch softball team made the most of six errors to beat New Hope 3-0 and 5-3 in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A North State title series in Columbus.
With the victories, Neshoba Central (29-6) rebounded from a 5-2 loss to New Hope in game one Monday in Philadelphia to take the best-of-three series and advance to the state title series against East Central, which beat West Harrison. That best-of-three series will begin Friday night in Ridgeland.
“We made too many mistakes and we didn’t hit the ball,” New Hope coach Tabitha Beard said. “How do you have 11 hits off a pitcher in two different games and then have three? It is just one of those things that happens.”
The losses were bittersweet for New Hope (27-3) and seniors Lauren Holifield, Kasey and Erin Stanfield, and Ashley Reed. The Lady Trojans defeated the Lady Rockets twice in the regular season to win the district title and gained the momentum Monday thanks to a no-hitter by junior right-hander D.J. Sanders. But McKinion helped erase that edge by allowing only 11 hits (five in the first game) in the two games Tuesday. The Lady Trojans also hurt themselves with three errors in each game that led to three unearned runs in each game. The fielding miscues cost New Hope because Holifield (complete-game three-hitter) and Sanders (complete-game six-hitter) both pitched well enough to win and give New Hope another chance to win the first fast-pitch state title in program history.
Last season, Wayne County swept New Hope in the best-of-three Class 5A State title series.
This year, Neshoba Central ended New Hope’s championship dreams twice. On Oct. 16, 2012, Neshoba Central rallied from a 12-11 loss in game one of the North State slow-pitch championship series and a 12-3 deficit in game two to earn a 13-12 victory. It then took a 15-13 victory in game three to advance to the state title series, where it beat Wayne County for the championship.
Neshoba Central made the most of its youth in fast-pitch season, too. First-year coach Trae Embry loses only two seniors to graduation. He also has only three juniors on a roster dominated by middle-schoolers, freshmen, and sophomores.
“We didn’t change anything,” Embry said. “(On Monday), we got no-hit. We didn’t barrel a single ball and we didn’t have any timely hits. Today, we had a couple of timely hits in the first game. … We tried to, more or less, put the ball in play. As hard as (Sanders) throws, if you put it in play and barrel it (it usually is enough), but she is good. Both of their pitchers are top-notch.”
McKinion, a freshman right-hander, is one of the underclassmen who has a bright future. Although not overpowering, she held New Hope in check in game one, allowing only singles. New Hope pushed only three runners into scoring position (all at second base). She was equally effective in game two, even though she struggled through control problems in the seventh due to a lack of grip on the new softballs. She encountered the same problem in the first inning of game two and went to a rosin bag. The control problem reared heir head again at the most nerve-wracking time with three outs to go. Holifield singled to lead off the seventh and was erased on a fielder’s choice by Kaitlin Bradley. McKinion then walked Sanders and Kasey Stanfield to put the winning run at the plate. Kaitlin Oswalt’s sacrifice fly to left field made it 5-3, but McKinion retired Erin Stanfield on a pop up to first base to end the game.
In game one, Neshoba Central used a one-out double by Kayla Robertson in the fourth inning to take a 1-0 lead. A single by Ali Pike and a single by Hailey Lunderman made it 3-0 in the fifth. Lunderman’s single was a sinking line drive to center field that R.J. James came in on and dove to try to keep in front of her, but it skipped past her and went all the way to the wall.
Bradley had two hits and Sanders, Reed, and James had hits in game one.
In game two, Hannah Williams helped Neshoba Central get on the board quickly against Sanders, who struck out two and walked two in her no-hitter Monday. Williams singled with two outs and Robertson followed with another single. Katlyn Duke made it 1-0 with a single down the third-base line that snuck between Bradley’s glove and third base.
“Our kids battle,” Embry said. “It is a testament to these kids. We have been behind in the last two series. We were behind Lake Cormorant in game two 8-4 and scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh. We were behind in game three in that series. We were behind in this series. It is kind of like a trend. Hopefully, it won’t carry over to Friday and Saturday.”
New Hope answered in the bottom half of the inning with a lead-off home run by Holifield. Bradley walked, went to second on a single by Sanders, to third on a bloop single by Oswalt, and scored on a grounder by Erin Stanfield. Duke saved further damage by coming in and making a sliding catch in right-center field on a flare by Reed.
The momentum turned for the final time in the second. With one out, Pike reached on an error. A throwing error on another bunt allowed Neshoba Central to tie the game. A grounder by Lunderman helped the Lady Rockets take a 3-2 lead. Madalyn McMahon then reached on the third error of the inning and scored on a single by Williams.
“We didn’t help D.J.,” Beard said. “We made some really big errors that allowed innings to continue that should have never been able to continue. When you do that to a pitcher it is hard for them to recover. It was the same thing with Lauren in the first game. Lauren actually gave up fewer hits than D.J. did, but we made some errors that gave them opportunities that we don’t usually make. If you take those errors off, it is a different game.”
Neshoba Central added an insurance run in the third. Duke was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by McKinion, and scored on a single by Pike.
“We just came in with the philosophy of let’s just win this day,” Embry said. “East Webster coach Lee Berryhill said it best, you just have to be better than that team that day. You don’t have to be the best all year. That team is good. What have they lost three games all year? They have a great ball team.”
New Hope had a chance to answer in the bottom half of the inning. Taylor Blevins reached on an infield hit when the second baseman was late covering first and moved to second on a sacrifice by James. Holifield was walked intentionally. Bradley followed with a single to center field that Duke fielded and gunned home to Williams, who reached back to tag Blevins. Williams then threw to third to get Holifield and end the inning.
“That was the play of the game,” Embry said. “Hannah is so heads up that she doesn’t give up on the next play.”
Said Beard, “You have to kick yourself as a coach when something like that happens. If I trust in God for the big things, I have to trust in God for the little things that it was all part of a plan that I am not aware of. As a coach, you question, and I probably will run over it 5,000 times again in my head, but I can’t doubt it.”
McKinion made the defensive gem and another — a sliding catch in right field in the fifth — stand up. She struggled with her control at times and walked seven, but she had confidence she would have the strength to overcome fatigue in game two.
“I would have liked to have been more aggressive in the last game, but I was really tired,” McKinion said. “Between the white line and the black line of the plate, I was trying to get them to swing.
“Yesterday was a lot better than today,” said McKinion, who felt she pitched OK Tuesday. “I struck out five (Monday) and today (she struck out one in two games) and I walked a lot in the second game.”
Beard sensed McKinion tried to work batters on the inside corner. All season, pitchers had tried to work away from the Lady Trojans, and McKinion followed that approach Monday and Tuesday. The wrinkle was McKinion also was able to come inside and to get the Lady Trojans to chase her pitches.
“She did a good job,” Beard said. “She jammed us up there. We have seen outside, outside, outside all year, and we have made the statement that as long as they come outside we’re going to turn on you in. I just felt that we had long swings and that we weren’t getting to the ball well, hands first and we were kind of going around it and hitting it off the handle. It made it a little easier than normal.”
Beard praised the efforts of Holifield, Kasey and Erin Stanfield, and Reed — who earned the nickname “The Fantastic Four” — for playing key roles in New Hope’s last five (14 in all) slow-pitch state titles. She said it was emotional thinking back to the start those players made with her when she took over as head coach of the program, but that she was confident all four would be successful in college. She also is looking forward to seeing Holifield, who will play softball at Jones County Junior College, and Kasey Stanfield, who will play at East Mississippi Community College, will do at the next level.
“It is heartbreaking for those girls who have worked so hard, for that senior class,” Beard said. “This is never how we envisioned it ending. It is a tough one. It is a tough one.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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