Lady Indians win Game 1 over East Central, 4-2
Adam Gore/LetsGoICC.com
FULTON, MS – Hannah Johnson struggled in her last outing for the #11 ICC softball team, but the freshman pitcher took care of business in the Lady Indians' 4-2 Game 1 victory of the MACJC Best-of-Three series on Friday night.
Johnson (Branson, MO) struck out the first three East Central and the Lady Indians' (36-10) bats kept the momentum going in the bottom half of the first when Haley Moore (Booneville) tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Catherine Carver (Hernando).
"That was big for us to be able to come out and put a run on the board after Hannah sat down the first three batters," said ICC head coach Andy Kirk.
ICC added a pair of runs to take a 2-1 lead when Rachel Elder (Guntown) and Heather Dillard (New Albany) scored on a pair of errors in the second.
Ashley Langford (Caledonia) smashed a lead-off home run in the sixth to give the Lady Indians an insurance run before East Central rallied to put the tying run on second, but Johnson recorded her fifth strikeout to clinch the ICC's first-ever state playoff victory.
Johnson scattered eight hits while striking out five on the night.
VIDEO: Coach Kirk talks about the Lady Indians Game 1 win
Haley Stephens and Karoline Holsonback each had a pair of hits for East Central (32-15).
Game 2 of the best-of-three series will start at 1:00 on Saturday with Game 3, if needed.
For more information on ICC softball, follow the Lady Indians on Twitter (@LetGoICC). Photo courtesy of Braden Bishop.