Area teams continued their early trek through conference games this week with baseball and softball aplenty. Caledonia’s baseball won its second in a row in a big way while its red-hot softball team fell short for the first time in a while. In Starkville the Yellow Jackets dropped a rivalry contest late.
Caledonia
The Cavs’s bats exploded for a huge day of offense on Tuesday against host Columbus as Caledonia racked up 12 hits and 15 RBI in a 23-1 win over the Falcons that lasted three innings.
The Cavs tacked on 15 runs in the first inning, two in the second and six more in the third as Reid Garrett, Cooper Shelnut and Owen Byrd produced two hits each.
Chandler Cobb delivered a stellar game from the mound in no-hit fashion with two walks and seven strikeouts. The Falcons’ lone run was scored in the second inning when Jaylon Sparks scored on a passed ball. The win is the second in a row for Caledonia and moves the team to 8-8 overall and 2-1 in Region 1-5A games. Columbus, still looking for its first win, fell to 0-13 and 0-3 on the season. The two teams square off again at 5:30 p.m. today at Caledonia.
In softball, Caledonia’s red-hot squad, winners of five straight, was cooled off Tuesday in a 7-4 loss at Pontotoc.
The Warriors plated three runs in the first inning before the Cavs got back into the game with two runs of their own in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, Pontotoc responded with four more runs created by a Cavs fielding error and a three-RBI double. A fielding error by the Warriors gave way to two Caledonia runs to close out the game. Molly Harlow had two of the team’s five hits.
The squad is back in action at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday against visiting New Hope.
Starkville
Tied at 3 by the third inning, both Starkville and rival Oxford were looking for some sort of break as the runs quit coming and innings started to wane on Tuesday. That break finally came, but in favor of the host Chargers in the form of a two-RBI double.
Oxford’s Ford Wade belted a line drive to left field for the lead in the sixth inning and the team held on to hand Starkville a 6-4 loss in Region 2-7A play.
The Chargers closed out the sixth with one more run courtesy of an RBI single by Hayes Huggins, and Starkville was left chasing its comeback dreams in the seventh. A sacrifice fly by Tyson Knox scored Taj Prater, but with only one out left in the game, a Murphy Gordon pop fly was caught to end it. The Jackets (11-8-1, 2-3) were limited to just four hits by a quartet of Charger pitchers with Robert Upchurch covering the first three innings for Oxford and giving up all the hits and three earned runs. Marcus Hendrix, Prater, Will Moody and Gordon each had a single for Starkville while the Chargers piled on eight hits.
Knox pitched 5 ⅔ innings and gave up six hits, four earned runs and walked two and fanned two. Will Akers came in relief and closed the game with two hits, two earned runs and two walks with one strikeout.
The Jackets and Chargers close out the series today at 7 p.m. in Starkville.
In softball, Starkville was dealt its third loss in its last four games in a 9-2 defeat at Germantown.
The Mavericks pulled ahead 2-0 in the third inning and added one more in the fifth then piled on six more runs in the sixth. Limited to just three hits, Starkville (6-11, 0-3) managed to get two across home plate in the seventh to get on the board.
Sadie Foote, Kalyn Kent and Aly Foote each had a hit for the Jackets. Emma Prewitt took the loss in the circle as she worked all seven innings and relinquished nine runs on 10 hits, with five walks. The team hosted Oxford yesterday and will play at Murrah on Tuesday.
New Hope
New Hope’s baseball team went down to the wire at Pontotoc as a 3-3 tie forced extra innings.
The Warriors found the difference in the eighth inning with a walk-off single to hand the Trojans a 4-3 loss, their third straight defeat. New Hope (8-10, 0-3) plated three runs in the fourth before Pontotoc countered with three of its own in the fifth. Cody Hollis led the team with two hits and four others had a single each. Brayden Edmiston pitched the first six innings and gave up five hits, three earned runs and walked four and struck out six. Jack Moore closed the game with two hits, one earned run and three walks.
The teams close the series out at 7 p.m. today in Pontotoc.
Caledonia’s softball team won its second game in a row on Tuesday in a 19-0 triumph at Columbus that only lasted three innings.
The Cavs (11-9, 2-1) scored eight runs in the first inning, five in the second and six in third as they outhit the Falcons 6-2. Kaselyn Harcrow held down the fort for Caledonia in the circle and fanned eight Falcons (1-10, 0-3). The teams finish the series at 6:30 p.m. today at New Hope.
West Point
The Green Wave dropped its second game in a row Tuesday in a 10-4 defeat against visiting Lafayette.
The game was knotted 3-3 in the second inning before the Commodores took the lead in the fourth with three runs in the sixth and one more in the seventh. West Point (7-12, 2-1) plated one last run in the sixth inning as it was outhit 10-6. Nasir Abrams led the team with two hits, and Dawson Tyler and J’Michael Strong each had a hit and an RBI.
Three Green Wave pitchers took to the mound and they all combined for four earned runs, five, walks and six strikeouts.
Both teams play once more today at 7 p.m. at Lafayette to close out the series.
In softball, West Point fell 14-0 to Lafayette for its fifth loss in a row. The Green Wave (4-14, 0-3) were outhit 15-1. The Commodores scored six runs in the first inning, two in the second and six more in the third.
The teams closed out the series yesterday at Lafayette.
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