To Be Continued… Indians, Warriors have unfinished business in Ellisville
Adam Gore/LetsGoICC.co
ELLISVILLE, MS - The No. 7 Indians and the No. 10 East Central Warriors have some unfinished business in the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) State Softball Tournament thanks to Mother Nature.
Saturday's elimination game was postponed due to lightning with the Warriors (42-8) up 5-4 in the third inning before the tournament was suspended due to worsening weather conditions in the area.
East Central took advantage of a pair of Indian errors to push across one run in the top of the first inning.
Lane Kennedy (Smithville) and Alex Brown (Pontotoc) started the bottom half the inning with a pair of walks before Kaitlin Bradley (Columbus) loaded the bases with a single. A Addie Thompson (Hamilton) grand slam cleared the bases and gave the Indians (39-9) a 4-1 lead.
East Central once again took advantage of pair of errors in the top of the second to plate a pair of runs to cut the Indians' lead to 4-3. After the fifth ICC error of the game, Summer Lavender ripped a two-run home run to help the Warriors retake the lead.
The five Indian errors in two and two-thirds innings is the most in a single game this season.
The game will restart in the top of the third with two outs and Andi Hannaford at the plate with no count and nobody on base.
Tournament officials announced play would be suspended until Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. If more weather issues occur, Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. would be the alternate start time.
The winner between ICC and East Central will punch its ticket to the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament hosted by No. 1 LSU-Eunice.
No. 5 Jones County Junior College and No. 3 Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College will square off in the first semifinal game of the tournament. The winner will advance to the championship round and the loser will take on the winner between ICC and ECCC.
If the tournament is resumed on Tuesday, JCJC and MGCCC will play at 5:00 p.m. and the second elimination game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. If the tournament is resumed on Wednesday, Jones and Gulf Coast will play at 4:00 p.m. and the second elimination game will start at 6:00 p.m.
No date or time(s) have been set for the championship round of the tournament.
For more information on ICC softball and the MACJC State Softball Tournament, follow the Indians on Twitter (@LetsGoICC).