OXFORD – Lafayette softball coach Greg Lewis had a feeling the Commodores would come out strong with a trip to state on the line. They did that and more.
Lafayette’s offense could not be stopped as the Commodores beat New Hope 13-0 in Game 3 of the Class 5A North half final series on Monday at Oxford High School. The win secures the first state championship appearance in program history.
“The way we’ve been taking batting practice over the last three days, then to come back here trying to do more at the plate, and they did,” Lewis said. “From the first inning all the way through.”
Leading 1-0 in the bottom of the second, the Commodores (25-7) had runners on second and first with two outs. Avery Lewis grounded to the second baseman, who couldn’t throw out the runner advancing to second. A run came home and the inning continued.
Two more scored after the left fielder dropped what would’ve been the third out. Mary Madison Kelley tacked on with a two-run single, then scored on a double by Zoie Woolfolk to make it 7-0.
By that point, the Commodores had scored more runs than they had all series. It was the most they had hit New Hope pitcher Kaselyn Harcrow, who had thrown every inning up to that point. She was pulled after 2-plus innings on Monday.
“The first two games were so tough, playing out over there and then even at our place. because she did a very good job on us,” Greg Lewis said. “It felt a lot better to be up by a few after the second inning.”
Harcrow loaded the bases in the third before walking in two runs. Kelley cleared the bases with a triple, putting the Commodores up 12-0. The senior first baseman went 3 for 3 with 6 RBIs and a run scored.
“I heard, in my first at bat, my stepdad behind the plate say, ‘Go out there. You’ve got something to do it for’,” she said. “And it just made me think that we could make history right here, and it made me want to do it for my team.”
Mabry Eason tossed five shutout innings, allowing two hits, no walks and striking out four.
Lafayette will face East Central in the MHSAA 5A state championship series. Game 1 is scheduled for Tuesday at approximately 4:30 p.m. on the campus of Southern Miss in Hattiesburg.
Extra Bases
Big Inning: Eason singled with two outs in the first to put runners on second and first for Avery Lewis.
Big Stat: Lafayette hit 4 for 8 with runners in scoring position and started 4 for 6.
Coach Speak: “I said, ‘Don’t let anybody sit here and tell you that, oh, we’ve got to play tomorrow you feel sorry for us.’ I said, ‘Hey, you made it to state. Now you got to get up and get ready to go tomorrow, too.’” — Greg Lewis’s message to the team after the game
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