STARKVILLE — The Yellow Jacket softball team came up painfully short in a comeback effort against district rival Tupelo at home on Tuesday. Starkville overcame a five-run deficit to take the lead late, but the Golden Wave had answers of their own in the final inning to secure an 8-7 road win.
“I told them I’m proud of them,” Starkville head coach Tyler McKinley said. “We just have to worry about Madison Central and then go to Tupelo, and hopefully they slip up and we just have to beat them by two. We have to worry about the next team, we can’t worry about this.”
The Jackets, now 6-10 on the year, needed to pick up the slack in district play after a loss against Germantown last weekend. They found themselves in an early 3-0 hole after one inning and trailed 7-2 after four innings, with Tupelo freshman Leah Stribling hitting home runs in back-to-back at-bats.
At one point, the Jackets loaded the bases but failed to bring anyone home, and then started an inning with an out as a result of confusion between the officials and the coaches. Marion Tate went up to bat after heading to the plate in the previous inning, got a hit, and headed to first before the umpire called a meeting and ruled her out.
McKinley claims he was told she’d be back up since the final out of the previous inning was a runner already on base, and the umpire allowed her back up to bat to lead off the inning before realizing the mistake.
McKinley was frustrated with the decision during and after the game but managed to get his team to refocus on the task at hand. Big hits from Tate, Sadie Foote, Leigh Parker Morgan, Rose Dodds and Kalyn Kent helped the Jackets fight their way into the lead, but mistakes in the final two innings saw Tupelo retake the lead.
“They found a way back in it,” McKinley said of his team. “I’m tired of hearing that we’re doing better, but I see that we’re doing better. I see they’re clawing, and at some point, we’re going to do better. They are. Sometimes you want things to happen faster than they do, but everything is a process and it takes time.”
The Yellow Jackets have made some strides in the first season under McKinley, and several underclassmen have stepped into key roles for the team, including pitcher Andley Pylate as well as fielders Morgan and Kent. It takes time to turn things around, though.
“We’re just working and learning how to be greedy,” McKinley said. “Take things one out at a time, slow the game down and be simple. Do the simple right.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
