Makenzie Barnett, Madalyn McMahon, and Rivers Gray had three hits Tuesday to lead the Neshoba Central High School fast-pitch softball team to a 14-0 victory against New Hope in Game 1 of the Mississippi High School Activities Association best-of-three second-round playoff series at Lady Trojan Field.
Game 2 of the series will be at 5 p.m. Thursday in Philadelphia. If needed, Game 3 will follow approximately 30 minutes after the first game.
Gray had five RBIs and Sindie Williams added three to help the Lady Rockets improve to 20-1. Neshoba Central has won the last three fast-pitch state titles and the last four slow-pitch state championships in Class 5A and Class 5A-6A. It has eliminated New Hope (14-9) from the playoffs the last seven times between both seasons.
New Hope had one hit. Aspen Wesley pitched three innings and struck out seven.
Mackenzie Harvey and Alex Melton combined to pitch for New Hope, which committed five errors.
n In other MHSAA softball action, Hamilton defeated Ray Brooks 18-1 and 12-1 in its Class 1A playoff series.
The victories helped the Lady Lions advance to the next round. Hamilton will play the winner of the Vardaman-Biggersville series on May 2-3. Vardaman beat Biggersville 1-0 on Tuesday.
Baseball
n Oak Hill Academy 8, Canton Academy 1: At West Point, Drew Riley pitched a complete-game four-hitter Tuesday to lead the Raiders (14-7) past the Panthers (20-6-1) in Game 1 of the best-of-three Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS).
Game 2 will be at 4 p.m. Friday in Canton. If needed, Game 3 will follow approximately 30 minutes after the first game.
Caleb Roberson, Heath Ford, and Chance Wilson had two hits to lead Oak Hill Academy, which put the game away with four runs in the sixth.
Buddy Dill had two RBIs and Collins Brown had an RBI to support Riley, who gave up a run in the first and then settled down. He walked three and didn’t strike out a batter.
Sy Odom allowed nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. He allowed three earned runs and struck out 10. Canton Academy committed seven errors.
n Magnolia Heights 19, Heritage Academy 0: Ladd Chain, Thomas Cooper, and Brandon Jones had hits for the Patriots in their non-district loss.
Cooper and JR Lott combined to pitch for the Patriots, who gave up nine unearned runs. Magnolia Heights scored 10 runs in the fourth to force the mercy rule after five innings.
Heritage Academy will play in the first round of the MAIS Class AAA playoffs next week.
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