Softball and volleyball action are entering key stretches of the season where all-important conference games are sprinkled into the schedule. Starkville Academy and Oak Hill Academy both were dealt wins and losses on the diamond, and Caledonia captured two volleyball wins to open conference play.
Starkville Academy
The Volunteers defeated rival Heritage Academy 13-3 on the diamond late last week for its seventh victory in a row, but its streak of wins came to a halt on Monday in a tight 6-5 loss at Pillow Academy.
The Mustangs opened the first inning with a run and added three more in the third to take an early 4-0 lead. Both teams tacked on two runs in the fifth, and the Vols attempted a late rally by landing three runs in the seventh but Ella Kate Heflin’s pop up was caught for the final out of the game.
Pitcher Molly Ingram gave up eight hits and three earned runs through six innings of work with two walks and three strikeouts. She also hit a double and a single for a team-high three RBI. Heflin had two hits, and Piper Sowell, Emmi Miller, Piper Graves, Addie Smith and Sarah Montgomery each had a hit.
The Vols (8-2, 1-0), who hosted Heritage Academy yesterday, are back in action tomorrow at home against Carroll Academy at 6 p.m.
Oak Hill Academy
The Raiders played in the Madison-Ridgeland Academy softball tournament on Saturday and dropped three games to three different teams but jumped back into the win column Monday with an 11-2 victory over Washington School.
Raider pitcher Kaelyn Pennington anchored Oak Hill from the circle as she fanned five batters and held the Generals to five hits and only two earned runs as her team’s offense added six runs in the first, one in the second, two in the third and one run in each of the fourth and sixth innings. The Generals plated a run in the first inning and the sixth inning for their only scores of the game.
Katelyn Lewis had two hits and an RBI, and Ella Margaret Gable had a double and single with an RBI. Pennington had a double for two RBI, and Sally Rhea Chaney and Lilly Reed also both hit a double.
In the tournament on Saturday, Oak Hill was belted 7-1 by MRA in its first game, and then lost a close 5-4 contest against Hartfield before a 7-4 loss against Bayou Academy ended tournament play. Through those three games the Raiders were outhit 24-18.
Oak Hill (9-5, 3-1), which hosted Washington School yesterday, plays at Heritage Academy tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.
Heritage Academy
The Patriots fell to 0-9 on the season Monday with a 16-0 loss to visiting Hartfield Academy.
The Hawks used 11 hits to notch 10 runs in the first inning, five in the second and three in the third. Hartfield pitcher Caroline Cronin pitched a no-hitter and walked five Patriots and struck out six.
Heritage (0-9, 0-4) hosted Starkville Academy on Tuesday and hosts Oak Hill on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Volleyball
Caledonia improved to 12-4-2 on the season by capturing back-to-back 3-0 wins over District 1-5A foe West Point on Thursday and Monday.
The Green Wave were the hosts on Thursday’s game and dropped the first set 25-7, the second set 25-10 and the third set 25-4. Caledonia, which is 2-0 in region games, hosted the match on Monday and won the first set, 25-4, the second, 25-5, and the third, 25-11. The Cavs, who hosted Fayette County yesterday, are back on the court in a region contest at 6 p.m. Thursday hosting Lafayette. West Point (3-5, 0-3) hosts Louisville at 6 p.m.
Starkville fell to 0-2 in Region 2-7A games after back-to-back 3-1 losses to Germantown and Madison Central, Aug. 19 and 21..
The Yellow Jackets slipped by the host school 25-23 in the first set, but the Mavericks steadily climbed back for the win by capturing a 25-16 second-set win, a 25-20 win in the third set and a 25-13 victory in the fourth set.
Madison Central took its first set at Starkville 25-12 before the Yellow Jackets responded with a 25-19 win in the second set to tie up the match. The Jaguars pulled ahead in the third set by winning 25-17 and 25-15 in the fourth. Starkville (5-9-1, 0-2) played at rival Oxford yesterday and is back playing tomorrow when Clinton comes to town at 6 p.m.
New Hope took only one set from host school East Webster last Thursday in a 3-1 loss that extends the Trojans’s slide to three games.
New Hope fell 25-12 in the first set but won the second 25-23. The Wolverines finished the match by winning the third and fourth set 25-11 and 25-18.
The Trojans (3-11) hosted Lamar County yesterday and open Region 1-5A play tomorrow at Pontotoc at 6 p.m.
West Lowndes played at Nanih Waiya last Thursday and fell 3-0 to the Warriors. The Panthers (1-6) played at Columbus yesterday and play at Okolona at 6 p.m. tomorrow to begin Region 3-1A play.
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