Action hadn’t started Monday, but Gary Harris wanted to set the tone.
“It’s a new season,” the Heritage Academy fast-pitch softball coach said, exhorting his players to try to create some magic.
Unfortunately, Heritage Academy had only one game’s worth of magic left in its season.
Heritage Academy lost to Madison-Ridgeland Academy 18-0, beat Starkville Academy 15-4 and lost to Washington School 11-1 on Monday in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA, District 1 tournament at Propst Park in Columbus.
Magnolia Heights will play Hillcrest Christian in a winners’ bracket game at 10 a.m. today at Heritage Academy. Washington School and Pillow Academy will play in an elimination game at 11:45 a.m. Another game will follow at 1:30 p.m. before the first championship game is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. An if-needed championship game will follow at 5 p.m.
All four teams have qualified for the Class AAA overall state tournament. Today’s action will determine seedings.
For Heritage Academy and Starkville Academy, their losses Monday ended their seasons. Magnolia Heights defeated Starkville Academy 11-1 in another opening-round game.
Harris, whose team qualified for the Class AAA State tournament last year in his first season as coach at the school, was disappointed the Lady Patriots couldn’t extend their season. He said the team struggled through an assortment of ups and downs all season. Those challenges continued Monday in the team’s second elimination game against Washington School. Trailing 3-1, pitcher Kaitlyn Oswalt tried to stretch a double into a triple and was thrown out at third base. Harris said Oswalt slid hard into the base and re-aggravated a back injury and had to leave the game. He said Shiloh Ellis came in to replace Oswalt in the circle and did an admirable job, but Washington School slowly pulled away en route to the run-rule victory.
“We were in the game until KO goes out,” Harris said. “After that psychologically that is a tough blow for you. Our kids got down after that and it was tough to get back up. It just kind of snowballed on us.”
Heritage Academy rebounded from its opening run-rule loss against Starkville Academy. Trailing 4-0, the Lady Patriots (10-16) erupted for nine runs on four hits in the second inning. Even though Heritage Academy had only eight hits, getting runners on base appeared to give the squad life. Macy Walters had two hits and three RBIs, and Macy Nordquist had two hits and four RBIs to give the team hope it could string victories together to extend its season.
“If some people start hitting the ball it is like our whole team jumps on it and everyone catches it. It is contagious,” Walters said. “It also helps when we play teams that are our rivals like Starkville Academy because we really want to beat them and stay alive (in the tournament).”
Walters said Harris told the players to forget about the first game. She said not focusing on the bad became a lot easier when she and her teammates started to hit the ball. Unfortunately, the high-fives the Lady Patriots generated from scoring so many runs didn’t materialize, even though it showed the resiliency Harris saw a lot more from the team in 2012.
“It is such a mental game,” Harris said. “You would think he most talented team always wins, so you have to stress to them that they have to be focused and ready. To be honest, it has been a challenge to keep them focused. It is not something we have done a great job of doing, as our record shows.”
Harris acknowledged that his team’s surprise run to the state tournament last season contributed to his disappointment that the Lady Patriots couldn’t earn a return trip. Unable to work the “magic” like it did last season, Harris said neither he nor the players should be satisfied with double-digit victories in a season. He said the program is not where he thought it would be after the second season and that he has to figure out what he needs to do to better prepare the players.
“We’re going to have to make some changes and make some sacrifices we haven’t made,” Harris said. “I have to do a better job selling this program. We have got to make it fun for the girls to play. We have to start at the younger levels like we have been trying to do.”
Harris also said it is imperative that more than two players (Oswalt and Brooklyn Waldrep) play travel ball so they are better players by the time the 2014 fast-pitch season begins.
“We have to get faster,” Harris said. “We were not able to put pressure on teams like they did to us. We have to find some softball players. Softball players are committed to it and work hard year-round. It is not just something you pick up for two months out of the year.”
Class A North State tournament
n Central Academy qualifies for overall state tournament: At Carrollton, The Lady Vikings went 2-1 Monday to secure one of the four spots from the North in the Class A overall state tournament Sept. 28 and 30 at Center City Park in Pearl.
Central Academy, the No. 1 seed from District 1, edged host Carroll Academy 8-6 in the first game. It lost to Tunica Academy 5-0 in its second game and then defeated Deer Creek Academy 8-2 in an elimination game.
“Everybody chipped in on the whole day,” Central Academy coach Sammy Lindsey said. “They played hard. It definitely was a team effort.”
Courtney Gaylord pitched all three games for the Lady Vikings. Lindsey said Kayla Brown hit well in the first game in which the Lady Vikings rallied for three runs in their final at-bat. He said Savanah Stapleton, Sadie Lindsey, Sarah Norris, and Allie Beth Rigdon were part of the scattered hitting the team had throughout the day.
Central Academy will play Benton Academy at 11:45 a.m. The four teams will play for seeding next week in the tournament that also will include the top four teams from the South.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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