In high school sports action this week, Oak Hill Academy and Starkville Academy played well enough in their respective region softball tournaments to advance to the MAIS state tournaments, which begin on Saturday in Magee. In volleyball, Starkville moved on to the 7A state tournament, and Columbus ended a long losing streak with a nonconference win.
Oak Hill Academy
After a long weekend of playoff softball, the Raiders won two and lost two games in the MAIS North 3A Regional Tournament at Bayou Academy for a top-four finish that cemented the team a spot in the Division II state tournament – the program’s first appearance in the state tournament.
“This is the first time they’ve gotten to (to the state tournament), so they seem to be into it and ready,” head coach Lewis Earnest said.
The No.4-seeded Raiders opened the tournament on Saturday with a 9-2 loss to No. 1 seed Marshall Academy and were sent to the loser’s bracket where the team started stacking some wins. A narrow 8-7 win over North Delta School, in which Kaelyn Pennington fanned three batters and Sally Rhea Chaney produced a double and two singles, led to another tight win, 4-3 over Kirk Academy. Despite being outhit 9-8, the Raiders found the difference in the first inning by plating two runs. Molly Aycock scored the team’s first run during a fielding error by Kirk, and Mary Crosley Coker delivered an RBI triple in her first at-bat to bring home Chaney. Kirk scored only one run in the first inning and was held to just one run in each of the third and six innings. In the final inning, a pop out, ground out and fly out by Kirk sealed Oak Hill’s win and moved the team into Monday’s semifinals of the loser’s bracket.
Their foe was Leake Academy, a team against whom the Raiders’ streak of winning close games came to a close in a 6-5 loss that ended Oak Hill’s run in the tournament. The Rebels overcame an early 5-1 deficit by scoring four runs in the third, but Leake broke the 5-5 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning when a line-drive single to center field by Kollyns Moore scored Alivia Gill. Looking to respond in the seventh, Pennington, Lily Reed and Coker all made contact with the ball but couldn’t find a gap in the defense and were all sent back to the dugout early to the tune of a groundout and two lineouts.
Pennington pitched all seven innings and gave up two earned runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and one walk.
“(The Raiders) played a lot better (Monday). (They) played hard and hit the ball pretty good, just right at them, and it seemed like they were more into it and ready to play (Monday),” Earnest said. “Hopefully they’ll keep that same mentality through Saturday.”
Leake went on to the final game of the loser’s bracket and fell in a 9-8 loss to Marshall Academy, who went on to win the championship series 9-8 and 6-3 over Tri-County Academy, which steamrolled its competition in the winner’s bracket. As the top two finishers, Marshall and Tri-County each earned the right to play in the Division I state tournament, and Leake joined Oak Hill (13-12) in the Division II tournament with a top-three placement.
The 3A state tournament begins on Saturday and is being held at the Magee Sports Complex in Magee. Oak Hill will play Bowling Green School, a team Earnest said he doesn’t know much about, at 11 a.m. Saturday to begin its title run.
“I don’t know a thing about them except they came in third in the South (3A Regional Tournament). I can’t even find them on GameChanger.”
The game’s winner will move on to play either Leake Academy or Wayne Academy, while the loser falls to the loser’s bracket. The Division II state championship three-game series will be played on Oct. 8, Oct. 9 and Oct. 11, if necessary. Earnest said his Raiders could be one of the last two teams standing in the tournament.
“We just have to put it together with the timely hits and make plays on defense and just give ourselves a chance,” he said. “We definitely have the ability to do it, it’s just a matter of doing it.”
Starkville Academy
The Volunteers fell just shy of finishing as a top-four team during the North 4A Regional Tournament on Saturday but still managed to land a spot in the MAIS Class 4A Division III State Tournament – the team’s first appearance under head coach Lee Berryhill – by notching one victory in the loser’s bracket.
“They’re excited to keep playing and extend their season,” Berryhill said.
No. 3-seeded Starkville Academy was sent to the loser’s bracket early after a 10-2 loss to No. 2 seed Magnolia Heights in the first round of games. The Vols picked up their first win of the tournament in a 10-0 shutout of Madison St. Joe that lasted only five innings. SA piled up 12 hits and nine RBI as pitcher Molly Ingram fanned eight batters from the circle to advance to a match against Pillow Academy that ended with a 5-2 Mustang victory. Pillow outhit SA 9-7 and produced four more RBI than the Vols. Tied at 1-1 heading into the bottom of the third inning, Pillow plated three runs to pull ahead and tacked on one more in the sixth. A single by Emmi Miller scored Lauren Adkerson to give SA its last run of the game in the seventh.
“We need to be more consistent on defense, on offense and the whole scheme of things,” Berryhill said. “We just need to be more consistent. We play a pretty good ball game and have a few errors or we don’t hit the (game), we just have to be able to put it all together going down there Saturday.”
Pillow went on to the final game of the loser’s bracket but fell 4-1 to East Rankin Academy, which lost 3-0 to Bayou Academy in the championship game. Bayou and East Rankin were awarded the top two finishes and earned spots in the 4A Division I state tournament. Pillow and Hartfield Academy had the third- and fourth-best placements and moved on to play in the Division II state tournament. Magnolia Heights joined SA in the Division III tournament with the fifth-best finish.
Starkville begins the state tournament at 11 a.m. Saturday in Magee against Silliman Institute. The game’s winner moves on to play either Brookhaven Academy or Magnolia Heights at 1 p.m. The 4A state championship series mirrors the 3A series and will be played on Oct. 8, Oct. 9 and Oct. 11, if necessary.
Berryhill said his team has to be clean in all phases to take home the championship trophy.
“We have to be able to pitch it and make routine plays,” he said. “It’s like what I tell my players, ‘We have to throw strikes, make routine plays and find the barrel of the bat as often as we can.’ If you do that, you give yourself a chance.”
Heritage Academy made an appearance in the 4A Regional Tournament but had its season ended after a 14-0 loss to Bayou Academy and a 12-0 loss to Hartfield Academy. The Patriots end their campaign at 0-17-1.
Volleyball
New Hope lost its second District 1-5A match in a row Thursday in a 3-1 defeat by visiting Pontotoc.
The loss keeps the Trojans (9-22, 4-4) at the No. 4 spot in the region standings, but the team has two more opportunities to tack on conference wins before the regular season comes to a close. New Hope played at rival Caledonia yesterday and hosts West Point at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow to conclude the regular season.
Caledonia had its three-game winning streak snapped last Tuesday at Pontotoc in a 3-0 loss that kept the team at the No. 3 spot in the region standings. The Warriors hold down the No. 2 spot and Lafayette anchors the top spot. The Cavaliers (18-11-2, 5-3) end their regular season at Columbus at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
The Falcons ended their seven-game losing streak on Thursday with a 3-0 win over Noxubee County. Columbus (3-14, 1-7) played at Pontotoc yesterday and closes the regular season tomorrow by hosting Caledonia.
Starkville Academy ended its regular season on Monday with a 3-0 loss at Pontotoc to finish as the No. 4 team in Region 2-7A, but move on to play in the 7A state tournament. The Yellow Jackets (10-15-1, 3-7) will take on Lewisburg at 6 p.m. on Oct. 7.
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