Lady Indians fall to No. 10 MS Gulf Coast in MACJC Playoffs
Lee Adams/LetsGoICC.com
FULTON, MS – The Itawamba Community College softball program earned its way into the playoffs for the eighth straight season and the Co-MACJC North Division champs hosted No. 10 Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in the first round.
The Lady Indians (32-13) battled in both games, but a late rally gave the nationally ranked Lady Bulldogs a 6-3 win in game one on Friday, and they fended off a seventh-inning rally by ICC on Sunday to pick up the 6-4 game two victory and the series.
Freshman Courtney Roberts (Hatley) gave the Lady Indians an early lead in game one with a two run homerun in the bottom of the third. That lead would hold until the sixth inning when the Lady Bulldogs rallied to tie the game on their own two-run bomb.
The Lady Bulldogs would break the time three batters later with their second two-run homerun of the inning. In the seventh, the Lady Bulldogs would add an insurance run to pick up the 6-3 win and take a 1-0 series lead.
After a day off due to wet field conditions, the team squared off for game two of the best-of-three series Sunday. The Lady Bulldogs plated five runs over the first two frames and added another in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead over the Lady Indians.
In a fast moving game, the Lady Indians loaded the bases in the final inning on singles by Kaitlyn Bradley (New Hope) and Cara Hopper (Caledonia) along with Sheneria Tyes (Baldwyn) being hit by a pitch. After a pop up, the Lady Indians were down to their final out, but sophomore Autumn Bonner (Fayette, AL) stepped up and smashed a grand slam over to cut the deficit to two.
The Lady Indians followed with a walk and had the tying run at the plate but the rally was cut short and the Lady Bulldogs captured the win and the series.
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