Region races are coming down to the wire as high school softball inches closer to the end of the regular season. Loyd Star captured Region 7-2A this week with a sweep of their Jackson-Liberty Road foes from West Lincoln.

 

Loyd Star 8, West Lincoln 3

Loyd Star 4, West Lincoln 0

The county and region rivals met at Loyd Star on Tuesday and at West Lincoln on Thursday.

LS coach John Smith saw his team pound out 12 hits on Tuesday in the 8-3 win. West Lincoln led 1-0 after the top half of the first inning and only trailed 4-3 after three complete, as Loyd Star put the game away with two in the fourth and two more in the sixth.

Sophomore outfielder Adi Holcomb drove in three runs for the Hornets. Freshman infielder Kenzie Kay Lofton added a pair of RBIs as she hit a triple.

Also hitting a triple for the Hornets was sophomore Layla Burt. Holcomb, Kaylin Hester, and Maddie Kate Britt each smacked a double apiece in the win.

Burt struck out nine in the circle, walked none and gave up two earned runs on four hits, needing just 90 pitches to get the efficient win.

Baleigh Griffith and Kylie Jarancik had one RBI each for West Lincoln coach Anita Thornton at the plate.

Burt was equally sharp on Thursday, as she struck out seven and gave up four hits with no walks issued. She also helped her own cause at the plate by hitting a double and driving in one run.

Sophomore Caroline Hedgepeth had a two-hit night at the plate for West Lincoln in game two.

It’s the sixth-straight region championship for Loyd Star softball.

The Hornets (15-4) will travel to face 7A Germantown High on Monday and then they’ll honor the senior class of Avery Sellers, Xia Townsend, Arry Anna Rushing, Ainsley Gennaro, and Madison McKinzie on Thursday before hosting Vicksburg High. LS is also scheduled to host Enterprise on Friday before closing out the regular season the following week with games at West Marion and Florence.

West Lincoln (6-14) has two regular season games remaining, with a trip scheduled on April 11 to play Raleigh High on the road and then a return day on April 14 when Raleigh will play at West Lincoln.

In other area softball action from this week, Enterprise dominated Leake County (15-0, 24-0) in two games, Florence High topped Brookhaven High 15-3 in a region matchup and Lawrence County walloped McComb High twice (19-0, 11-5).