The stands of the softball complex at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson were packed on Wednesday for a matchup between two top five NJCAA Division II programs as Jones College was in town for a Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference (MACCC) doubleheader against the Wolves.

There were reasons to cheer for fans of both schools as the home team took the opener 6-2 before Jones got a measure of revenge with a 5-4 win in the finale.

CLCC, which came into the game ranked No. 4 in the nation, moved to 28-4 on the season and remains atop the MACCC standings with a 15-1 mark in the league.

The loss in the second game broke a 26-game win streak for Co-Lin and head coach Meleah Howard. All four losses this season for the Wolves have been of the one-run variety.

Jones, which came into the game ranked No. 3 in the nation, moved to 35-6 on the season and is 13-3 in MACCC play.

History tells us the teams will play again. Co-Lin beat Jones twice last season in Ellisville on its way to winning the MACCC league championship. Jones then won 7-5 in Wesson to take the Region 23 Championship.

Both teams made the NJCAA Division II National Tournament, where Co-Lin finished fourth with a 5-2 record, and Jones lasted three games, going 1-2.

The 2024 National Tournament was played in Spartanburg, South Carolina, just like the one a year earlier, won by Co-Lin with a pair of victories over Jones (10-5, 7-0) in the tourney finals that secured the first national championship in school history.

This year, the national championship will be held in Oxford, Alabama.

Co-Lin and Jones will both be contenders to make return visits to the national stage, but the MACCC has a couple more teams in the hunt in Pearl River (28-9, 12-2) and Northeast Mississippi (32-4, 13-3).

Jones split with Northeast in their matchup this season. The Bobcats also split with Itawamba CC.

Co-Lin will host Pearl River on Tuesday, April 8 and then travel to Northeast Mississippi on Saturday, April 12.

What Co-Lin has been able to rely on all season is outstanding pitching from the ace of the staff, sophomore Emily Richarde.

Richarde, a native of the Memphis suburb of Arlington, Tennessee, moved to 11-0 on the season with the game one victory over Jones. She struck out six and scattered five hits in the win.

CLCC went up 2-0 in the bottom of the first when they filled the bases by drawing walks from three of the first four batters to face Jones hurler Jayden Sawyer.

A single by sophomore outfielder Kynlee Madere (Lutcher High, La.) scored one run and a sacrifice fly by sophomore outfielder Emeri Warren (Leake Academy) scored the other to stake the Wolves to an early 2-0 lead.

The lead was padded to 3-0 when sophomore infielder Avery Williams (Lewisburg High) hit a no-doubter over the left field fence for a one-run home run in the bottom of the third. It was the fourth home run of the season for Williams, who has been strong at the plate and on first base after getting just eight at-bats last season as a freshman.

Jones cut the advantage to 3-2 when sophomore Emily Mizelle hit a two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning. Mizelle and Sawyer both hail from Mobile, Alabama and getting the pair of them out at the plate on Wednesday was as frustrating as trying to navigate Moffett Road on a trip to the beach.

Both had two hits each in game one and Lindsey had two more hits, including a double, in game two.

Co-Lin responded quickly after Jones pulled close, as Warren started the inning with a walk and then her pinch runner moved up to second when Jones committed an error while trying to field a sacrifice bunt.

A scorching double to left field by Co-Lin sophomore outfielder Carson Hughey plated two runs and put the Wolves back ahead 5-2.

The left-handed Hughey bats ninth in the Co-Lin lineup after a high school career spent batting leadoff at Loyd Star.

She currently holds one of the hottest bats on the team as Hughey had three hits in game two and bumped her average up to .442 on the season. Her 34 hits this season have already surpassed her season total from her freshman year.

Hughey scored later in the sixth on a single by sophomore Taylor Efferson.

Efferson, a native of Holden, Louisiana, started in the circle for the Wolves in game two. She gave up nine hits and four earned runs while walking one and striking out six.

The CLCC bats had success early against Jones starter Ava Prejean, scoring all four runs of the game against her in 3.2 innings of work. Freshman pitcher Breelyn Cain, a two-time state champ from West Lauderdale High, came in as relief and did not allow a run in her 3.1 innings of action.

Co-Lin did not have a batter strike out in game two. Hughey and Olivia Banes (Simpson Academy) each doubled in game two and Howard’s squad also got a two-run home run from freshman catcher Stella Roberts (Copiah Academy) in the loss.

The game turned in the top of the sixth, when Jones sophomore outfielder Brooklyn Montana (Gulfport High) hit a three-run home run to put the visitors up 5-4. 

The Wolves had runners at second and third in the seventh, but Jones forced a lineout to end the game and preserve the split.