STARKVILLE — Aspen Wesley and the rest of her Neshoba Central High School fast-pitch softball teammates closed the deal Friday night.
Wesley pitched a four-hitter as Neshoba Central won its sixth-straight Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 5A State championship with a 6-2 victory against Pearl River Central at Mississippi State’s Nusz Park.
Wesley, a Mississippi State commitment, pitched a no-hitter with 18 strikeouts in a 3-0 win Thursday night. In the best-of-three series clincher, she allowed four hits and struck out 13.
Pearl River Central (26-7) tied the game in the second inning on a solo home run by Shelby Archer. The Lady Devils also scored in the fifth when Madi Gladwell singled and scored on a triple by Brienne Penton.
Wesley bounced back to strike out the side in the fifth.
Neshoba Central (34-0), the No. 1 team in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) rankings, scored first in the second on a solo home run by Sindle Williams. The Lady Rockets took the lead for good on at two-run home run by Wesley in the fourth.
Victoria Henderson had three of Neshoba Central’s nine hits. Wesley also had multiple hits.
Neshoba Central has won eight fast-pitch state titles and 12-straight championships between slow- and fast-pitch seasons.
n Houston 10, Raleigh 2: In Class 3A play, the Lady Toppers swept the Lady Lions for their second state championship. The other was in 2012.
Houston third baseman Aquana Brownlee, an MSU commitment, hit a two-run home run in the third. Brownlee homered in both wins for Houston. She was intentionally walked in her final two at-bats Friday.
Paige Kilgore had three hits for Houston (25-6), while McKayla Crowlee had two hits, including a two-run home run.
In a 6-1 win Thursday, Georgia McMullen broke open a tight game with a three-run double, which came the at-bat after Brownlee was intentionally walked.
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