WESSON – Sophomore pitcher Brooke Gonzales authored a four-hit shut out to lead the Co-Lin Lady Wolves to an 8-0 and 8-3 South Division sweep of the Southwest Lady Bears.

Co-Lin (11-6, 3-1) returns to action on Friday when they travel to Ellisville to take on the No. 15 ranked Jones County Lady Bobcats.

“We got two big division wins today,” said Lady Wolves’ head coach Allen Kent. “Our pitchers did a great job. We worked ahead in the count and played great defense all day. We had some timely hitting and a lot of patient at-bats. Brooke authored a shutout in game one. Rheagan Welch did a great job and picked up the win in relief. Our six run fourth inning was huge.”

Co-Lin led 5-0 after the first two innings and never looked back. An RBI single by Missy Romero and a two-run single by Payton Sheffield during the first inning and an RBI double by Brooke Laigast and a sacrifice fly by Breanna McKenzie in the second inning fueled Co-Lin Lady Wolves’ offense early.

They picked up three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. McKenzie’s RBI single to left field plated Kayla Craft. Missy Romero’ RBI single scored Roberts. With Romero on second, Payton Sheffield ripped an RBI single to right field giving the Lady Wolves an 8-0 lead.

Roberts went 2-for-2 with a double and a single. Romero and Sheffield added a pair of singles. Adding support with a single apiece were Laigast, Craft, McKenzie and Byrd.

For Southwest, Chelsea Nette, Harley Myers, Kristen Gelder and Abigail Hall singled.

Gonzales (7-1), a sophomore from Denham Springs, allowed no runs on four hits and struck out two.

Kristen Gekler couldn’t get it done on the rubber for Southwest, taking a loss. She lasted just three innings, walked none, struck out one and allowed three runs.

Lady Wolves 8, Lady Bears 3 

Co-Lin exploded for six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take an 8-3 win. The Lady Wolves jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. After Brooke Laigast tripled, Hannah Roberts doubled, scoring Laigast. Roberts scored on an RBI double by Missy Romero.

Southwest would take a 3-2 lead in the top of the third inning. Harley Myers’s double to center field scored Chelsea Nette and Brieana Harper. Myers advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a passed ball.

The Lady Wolves rallied for six runs on the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out, Kaitlin Cooksey singled to right and scored on Beth Fortenberry’s double and an error by the left fielder to tie the game at 3-all. Fortenberry stole third, Adrienne Wallace drew a walk and stole second. Laigast walked. Kayla Craft’s RBI single scored Fortenberry and gave Co-Lin a 4-3 lead. Roberts walked scoring Wallace. Breanna McKenzie hit a sacrifice fly to score Laigast and putting the Lady Wolves up 6-3. Craft scored on Payton Sheffield’s RBI single to left and Roberts scored on the throw to home to put Co-Lin up 8-3.

Romero led the Lady Wolves at the plate with a double and a single (1 RBI). Sheffield and Kaitlin Cooksey added a pair of singles. Fortenbery doubled. Roberts doubled, scored two runs and had two RBIs. Adding support with a single apiece were Laigast, Craft and Wallace.

Myers led the Lady Bears with a double and a single for 2 RBIs. Harper was 2-for-3 with a pair of singles. Nette and Marissa Jenkins doubled. Payton Lewis and Jessica Pipkins added support with a single apiece.

Rheagan Welch picked up the win in relief of Meghan Johnson. She limited the Lady Bears to three hits and struck out two in 4.1 innings of work. Johnson tossed 2.2 innings, allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits, struck out none and walked none.

Madison Teague absorbed the loss. She allowed eight runs in six innings, walked seven and struck out two.