Meleah Brown’s expertise on the mound and her potent batprovided the Bogue Chitto Lady ‘Cats with an exceptional leader onoffense and defense. Brown led Bogue Chitto to the South State 1Achampionship finals and a 20-9 record.

Recognizing Brown’s achievements, the senior standout has beennamed The DAILY LEADER’s Most Valuable Player on the 2006 All-AreaFastpitch Softball Team. Brown compiled a 19-8 pitching recordwhich includes 224 strikeouts and 72 walks in 169.1 innings. At theplate, she bated .337, hitting 2 home runs and accounting for 20RBIs.

Two other players were recognized for their outstandingachievements on the diamond. Brookhaven’s Ashley Sykes is the MostValuable Defensive Player and Brookhaven Academy’s Emily Langley isMost Valuable Offensive Player. The Dream Team was selected by theDL’s sports staff, with input provided by area high school andcollege coaches.

Joining Brown in the bullpen are pitchers Ashley Jones ofLawrence County and Catherine West of North Pike. Catchers includeKelly Vinson of Brookhaven, Candace Avants of Bogue Chitto andMaggie Dunaway of North Pike.

Infielders are Emily Smith of Lawrence County. Britnee Smith ofWest Lincoln, Devon Welch of Bogue Chitto and Brittney Beeson ofLoyd Star.

Outfielders include Langley, Chelsey Miller of Bogue Chitto andRhianna Garrett of Lawrence County.

Holli Smith of West Lincoln and Maddie Allen of BrookhavenAcademy are the designated hitters. Sykes and Ashley Greer ofEnterprise are the utility players.

Brown, the 18-year-old daughter of Perry and Vasie Brown, hasbeen instrumental in Bogue Chitto’s success on the slowpitch andfastpitch softball fields. She starred at shortstop in slowpitch.She has an arsenal of pitches: fastball, curve, drop, rise and twochangeups. Her fastball has been clocked at 65 miles per hour.

“Meleah can play anywhere,” stated Bogue Chitto coach ScottLeggett. “She is a very good leader and really stepped up thisyear.”

Brown has signed a scholarship with Copiah-Lincoln CommunityCollege. She plans to major in education and secondary math, pluscoaching.

The Lady ‘Cats took East Webster to a third game in the SouthMississippi championship series, losing 1-0 to the eventual statechampions.

“We played team ball this year,” said Brown. “That’s why we madethe playoffs.”

Brown tossed 11 shutouts this season, including 9 straight.

She wears jersey No. 22, the same number her mother wore at WestLincoln 21 years ago.

“I want to be a teacher, so I can coach,” said Brown. Herfavorite professional baseball player is Chipper Jones of theAtlanta Braves.

Ashley Sykes, a 5-foot-7 senior, is the 18-year-old daughter ofTina and Frankie Sykes. She also has signed a scholarship withCo-Lin.

On the mound, Sykes fashioned a 17-8 record, leading the OleBrook Lady Panthers to a runners-up finish in the Division 6-4Arace. She batted .507.

“Ashley had an outstanding year,” said Ole Brook coach LisaCovington. “She’s a great all-around player. She can play anyposition. She did a good job on the mound for us and came throughat the plate, too.”

Sykes was a 6-year member of Covington’s varsity squad. She alsostarred in slowpitch as a shortstop.

“I like playing shortstop,” said Sykes. On the mound, she throwsa fastball, curveball, screwball and two changeups.

She has a season-high 12 strikeouts against Mendenhall. “I liketo throw the low, inside fastball,” said Sykes.

“I’m very proud of the way our season went,” she continued.Sykes also wants to enter the teaching and coaching field.

Emily Langley, a 5-6 senior, also has signedwith Co-Lin. Her .657 batting average is best on the dream team.She accounted for 40 hits, 12 doubles, 4 triples and 3 homers forthe Lady Cougars, sparking them to an 11-18 worksheet.

The daughter of Wenda and Chuck Langley bats left-handed. “Mymom got me started batting left-handed when I was five years old.She thought that would be an asset later on.”

Her mother coached the Lady Cougars this season.

A talented, 4-sport athlete, Langley also played soccer, trackand basketball for the Lady Cougars. She was named MVP in the MPSAAll-Star Soccer Game.

Langley said she plans to major in psychology at Co-Lin. Sheenjoys reading. Her favorite book is Dr. Jekyl and Mr.Hyde.

Catherine West, a junior, composed a 16-5 record forthe North Pike Lady Jaguars who are coached by Sonya Wallace. Sheaccounted for 127 strikeouts and 22 walks in 126 innings. She had10 shutouts and a .66 ERA, leading her team to the second round ofthe Class 3A state playoffs. She also batted.333.

Ashley Jones, a junior, led Coach BeronicaStringfellow’s Lawrence County Lady Cougars to the Division 6-4Achampionship. She compiled a 20-9 record and a 1.57 ERA. She had 94strikeouts and 22 walks. At the plate, she batted.301.

Candace Avants, a junior, batted .380 for BogueChitto and had 17 RBIs.

Kelly Vinson, a senior, batted .284 for OleBrook.

Maggie Dunaway, a sophomore, batted .400 for NorthPike.

Emily Smith, a senior, batted .388 for LawrenceCounty. She led the team with 33 RBIs and 2homers.

Britnee Smith, a senior, batted .377 for CoachAndrew Redd’s West Lincoln Lady Bears. She has signed withCo-Lin.

Devon Welch, a junior, batted .386 for Bogue Chitto.She had 16 RBIs.

Brittney Beeson, a freshman, batted .317 for CoachJan Delaughter’s Loyd Star Lady Hornets.

Chelsey Miller, a sophomore, batted .273 for BogueChitto.

Rhianna Garrett, a senior, batted .329 for LawrenceCounty.

Holli Smith, a sophomore, batted .528 for WestLincoln. She had 3 homers and 17 RBIs.

Maddie Allen, a senior, batted .503 for BrookhavenAcademy.

Ashley Greer, an eighth grader, batted .424 forCoach Steve Sasser’s Enterprise Lady YellowJackets.

Sam Ellison, a senior, batted .489 for Coach RickyGunter’s Lady Cobras.

Honorable Mention With Distinction

Bogue Chitto: Kelli Howard, Dori Hall, LaToyaBraxton, Shaquille Burton.

Brookhaven: Sabrina Delaughter, Terri Hodges, HannahLowman, Katie Smith.

Brookhaven Academy: Betsy Lynch, BrandiFalvey.

Copiah Academy: Becca Boone, KimberlyBridges.

Enterprise: Melane Rutland, Amanda Price , LindseyEverett.

Franklin County: Kristen Oglesby, Courtney Reid,Melissa McFarland.

Lawrence County: Tiara Townsend, Hannah King, KatieStokes, Katie Davis, Shaina Starks.

Loyd Star: Haley Sones, Amber Restivo, KristenNewell, Aerial Hunsucker.

North Pike: Kaitlyn Perry.

Wesson: Bethany Dykes, Monica Garcia, Stacey Lowery,Christina Fink.

West Lincoln: Ashley McCaffery, Kacey Smith, KeriEasley, Hannah Knouse, Heather Huff.