NORMAL, Ill. — The Copiah-Lincoln Community College Lady Wolvesturned a dramatic double play in the bottom of the seventh inningto preserve a 2-1 victory over the Kankakee Community College LadyCavaliers in the second round of the National Junior/CommunityCollege (NJCAA) National Softball Tournament at ChampionFields.

The Lady Wolves (38-7) face the Parkland Community College LadyCobras at 10 a.m. today in the winners bracket. The No. 3 rankedLady Cobras were runners-up in the National Tournament in 2005.

The No. 4 ranked Lady Cavaliers (42-8) started off the bottom ofthe seventh inning with back-to-back singles by pitcher JessieAlesi and first baseman Amber Nibling. Co-Lin pitcher Emily Hornegot second baseman Lindsey Longfellow to ground out to thirdbaseman Megan Bateman. Kankakee third baseman Jenny Swanson doubledto left field to score Alesi. Co-Lin Coach Allen Kent made a tripto the mound to talk to his team. Horne convinced Kent to let herpitch to Lady Cavalier catcher Heather Tarter, who hit a grand slamhome run in an earlier game. That strategy paid off as Tarter hit agrounder to short stop Kady King who trapped the runner betweenthird and home and was tagged out by catcher Lauren Smith. Smiththen fired the ball back to Bateman at third, who turned and threwto second baseman Jackie Stowe who tagged out Swanson for thegame-ending double play.

“Emily threw a solid game,” said Coach Kent. “We put her in afew jams on some misplays, but she got out of trouble. She kept usin the game and gave us a chance to win. Alesi is the best pitcherwe have faced all year, we feel fortunate to have come out on topin this one. Winning the first game was big for us.”

Horne pitched through a hard, steady wind throughout thegame.

The Lady Wolves took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inningwhen All-Region second baseman Jackie Stowe drew a 1-out walk andadvanced to second on an error by Kankakee the pitcher on Horne’sgrounder. All-Region freshman Erin Douglass hit a seeing-eye singlethrough the hole between short and third to score Stowe.

Neither team would score again until the fifth inning.Centerfielder Kaylin Burke drilled a 1-out double down the leftfield line. Annie Selman’s bunt attempt was mishandled by thepitcher allowing Burke to score giving the Lady Wolves a 2-0lead.

Horne (20-3), a two-time All-Region 23 selection and ArkansasTech signee, kept the Lady Cavaliers in check until the bottom ofthe seventh inning. Horne scattered 5 hits, struck out 8 and walked5. Absorbing the loss was Jessie Alesi. Alesi had 5 strikeouts andwalked 4.

Burke led the Lady Wolves at the plate with 2 of 3 Co-Lin hits.She also reached base on an error.