The softball teams of Starkville Academy and Oak Hill Academy seem to be humming as they begin the stretch of their seasons where the all-important district games are sprinkled in.
Both clubs took home wins on Monday and Tuesday on the diamond while West Point was the only area volleyball squad to capture a victory on Tuesday.
Oak Hill Academy
The Raiders, who opened up District 2-3A play last week by going 1-1 against Winona Christian, used 13 hits to bombard Winston Academy 16-2 in Louisville on Monday, then hosted the Patriots on Tuesday, earning a 10-0 shutout victory.
In Monday’s game, which only lasted five innings, the Raiders got ahead early by tacking on three runs in the first inning, six in the third, three in the fourth and four more in the fifth. Winston landed one run in the third inning and one more in the fifth.
Kaelyn Pennington pitched four innings of four-hit softball and struck out six. Reese Wooten came in for relief and gave up one hit, one run, one walk and issued a strikeout. Pennington led the way at the plate with two hits and three RBI, and Molly Aycock, Mary Crosley Coker, Sally Rhea Chaney and Ella Margaret Gable each produced two hits.
The Raiders added seven more hits in their win on Tuesday and got a superb pitching performance from Pennington, who doled out five innings of one-hit softball and fanned four batters.
Mollie Caroline Brand smacked a triple and a single for one RBI to lead Oak Hill’s offense. Pennington also had two hits and an RBI, and Parker Higginbotham, Aycock and Coker each tallied one hit. The Raiders scored three runs in the first inning to take the lead, then added one run in the second and six in the fifth.
Through the two district games, Oak Hill (8-2, 3-1) has scored 26 runs and produced 20 hits – a solid offensive showing – but head coach Lewis Earnest still isn’t riding too high after the wins. He points to the fact that the sweep of Winston doesn’t mean too much because the Patriots are in a “down” year, and Oak Hill still had four errors between the games against Winston and five against Winona.
“I mean, we won big in both of (the games), so I’m happy with that. I still feel like we should have played better,” Earnest said. “Our division schedule is just going to get tougher. … Well, they need to hit the ball better. We get a few hits here and there, but a lot of times this year opposing pitchers have struggled some or they’ve struggled defensively and gave us some opportunities that we’re going to be facing are not going to give us. We’re going to have to do a better job of putting hits together to score runs.”
On Saturday the Raiders are playing in a softball tournament hosted by Madison-Ridgeland Academy. Oak Hill opens with Hartfield Academy at noon, plays MRA at 4 p.m. then closes with Bayou Academy at 6:40 p.m.
Earnest said the tournament should show just how far the Raiders have come since the beginning of the season.
“That’s going to be three really tough games,” he said. … “I feel like we’ve got a good ball team and some good players, we just have to put it all together. I feel like we can make a decent run if we can put it all together.”
Starkville Academy
The Volunteers combined to hit five doubles and steal seven bases in battering Kemper Academy 16-4 on Monday and got 10 strikeouts from pitcher Molly Ingram in Tuesday’s 16-6 victory at Central Holmes Christian.
Against Kemper, Lauren Adkerson belted two doubles and a single for two RBI to lead the Vols at the plate. Ella Kate Heflin hit two RBI doubles, and Piper Sowell hit a double for an RBI and scored three runs. The Vols, who produced 11 hits, also got one hit from Ingram, Azleigh Slivka, Emmi Miller, Piper Graves and Elin Jewell. SA scored four runs to open the first inning and added six in the second, five in the third and one more in the fourth. Kemper got on the board in the second inning by plating all of its four runs.
In Tuesday’s game, Starkville Academy scored three runs in the first inning, three in the fourth, five in the fifth and added five more in the seventh. Ingram held strong in the circle as she limited Central Holmes Christian to five hits and one earned as she struck out 10 batters.
Ella Kate Heflin hit a triple and two singles for four RBI and scored three runs. Sarah Montgomery had three hits with one RBI and scored a run, and Ingram, Sowell and Addie Smith each had two hits.
The wins improve Starkville Academy to 7-1 on the season and pushes their winning streak to five games.The Vols begin MAIS District 2-4A play tonight at Heritage. First pitch is at 6 p.m.
Heritage Academy
The Patriots hosted East Rankin Academy Tuesday for two games in its District 2-4A opener and dropped both contests.
Heritage Academy (0-7, 0-2) was shut out 16-0 in Game 1 and was held hitless by ERA pitchers Callie Derrick and Holly Jackson. East Rankin scored four runs in the first inning, two in the second, four in the third and sixth in the fourth.
In Game 2, Heritage got singles from Kelsey Perkins and Lilla Berry but couldn’t overcome ERA’s offense in a 12-2 defeat.
East Rankin added four runs in the first, third and fifth innings, and Heritage got on the board with two runs in the second. Lola Sullivan pitched 2.1 innings and gave up three hits, six earned runs and walked seven. Aubrey Gray closed the game and relinquished one hit, six earned runs and issued four walks and two strikeouts.
Heritage looks for its first win today at 6 p.m. when it plays at Starkville Academy.
Volleyball
West Point’s volleyball team took down Kemper County 3-1 in DeKalb on Tuesday for its third win of the year.
The Green Wave (3-3, 0-1) won the first set 25-19, the second set, 25-14, then dropped the third set 25-22. West Point responded by claiming the match with a 25-14 win in the fourth set. The Green Wave are back in action today hosting Caledonia for a Region 1-5A contest at 6 p.m.
Caledonia’s attempt to avenge Saturday’s loss to New Albany in the Cavalier Classic tournament was thwarted by the Bulldogs, who claimed a 3-1 win over the Cavs.
Caledonia took the first set 25-22 but New Albany rallied and captured the second set 25-20, the third set 25-22 and the fourth set 25-21. The Cavs (10-4-2) begin Region 1-5A play today at West Point.
New Hope fell to 3-10 on the season Tuesday as it lost 3-0 at Neshoba Central. The Trojans play at East Webster at 6 p.m. today with an opportunity to snap a two-game skid.
Starkville began Region 2-7A play on Tuesday with a 3-1 loss at Germantown.
The Yellow Jackets won the first set 25-23 but succumbed to three consecutive defeats of 25-16, 25-20 and 25-13 to close out the match. Starkville (5-8, 0-1) hosts Madison Central today at 6 p.m. in another region contest.
West Lowndes’s losing streak grew to five games Tuesday as it lost a close 3-2 match against Naniah Waiya in Columbus. The Panthers (1-5) play at the Warriors today at 6 p.m. for an opportunity to bounce back.
Starkville Academy was dealt a 3-0 loss at East Webster on Tuesday.
The Vols lost the first set 25-11, fell 25-9 in the second set and 25-18 in the third.
SA (1-6) hosts a tri-match today with Hartfield Academy and Heritage Academy. The Vols take on Harfield at 4 p.m. and play Heritage at 6 p.m.
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