Brookhaven Academy softball opens season with shutout of Copiah

Published 9:00 am Wednesday, July 30, 2025

There was a little confusion about the score late in the game Monday of the home softball opener at Brookhaven Academy.

BA had a big lead against visiting Copiah Academy, but the scoreboard said one thing and the Gamechanger for the Cougars said another thing and the same app for the Colonels said something different.

It’ll go in the books as a 10-0 win for the Cougars, as the teams played in front of a huge crowd that filled all available viewing space at the ballpark.

It was the first game for Brookhaven Academy since the Cougars captured the 2024 MAIS 5A state championship in a thrilling series against their rivals from Parklane Academy.

With an overhaul of the classification system in all MAIS athletics, the Cougars are now part of the new 4A ranks, as are the Colonels. 

Despite graduating a five-player senior class that included three top community college softball signees, the cupboard is far from bare at BA and the team showed on Monday that there is still plenty of power in the lineup.

Senior slugger Morgan Chemin went 3-for-3 at the plate to pace the nine hit Cougar offensive attack. Chemin slugged a home run and drove in three runs on the night.

As a team, BA did not have a batter strikeout.

Senior leadoff batter Alayna Daigle also smacked a home run for the home team, as she finished with two RBIs.

Senior outfielder Miriam Wallace also drove in a run in her spot batting behind Daigle in the lineup.

Chemin, Daigle, and Wallace were all big pieces on the last two state championship teams for BA and all three will play college softball if they choose to.

They’re joined as seniors on the roster by Whitney Grace Whittington and Ryleigh Purdy, two players who started their careers at West Lincoln, and who have softball in their future if they decide to go that route. 

Whittington was at BA last season and saw some time in the circle, but has now moved into the position as a top pitcher on the roster for the Cougars. On Monday she allowed three hits and walked one batter in five innings.

CA ended up using three pitchers, one of them being Enterprise transfer Rainee Falvey. An eighth grader, Falvey pitched two innings of relief and played left field.

Purdy, playing in her first game as a Cougar, split time between shortstop and catching and finished with one hit in the game.

Sophomore Jessi Covington smacked a double for the Cougars while Swayze Poole and Madelynn Lambert also hit safely for BA.

Poole, Covington, Breece Tullos, and Caroline Case each had an RBI apiece for the Brookhaven Academy offense.

The game was the second of the season for longtime CA head coach Terry Bauer and his team, as they dropped a 6-2 loss to Hartfield Academy on Friday.

Brookhaven Academy played Wayne Academy in Laurel on Saturday, picking up a 2-1win.

Both BA and CA will have a packed week, as Brookhaven hosted Amite School Center on Tuesday in a game that was delayed by lightning and then an outage of the field lights. The visiting ASC Rebels took a 5-2 win.

Copiah hosted Adams County Christian School in Gallman also on Tuesday and the visiting ACCS Rebels took a 17-7 win.

Copiah will then host Brookhaven in a rematch of the Monday matchup on Thursday in Gallman with a 6:15 p.m. start time.

BA will then hit the road on Friday to play at Wayne Academy and then play in Magee on Saturday at a tournament hosted by Copiah Academy.

Brookhaven Academy head coach Lisa Covington has coached the game in all seasons of weather that one can experience in her long career that began at Brookhaven High.

She says summer practices in the Mississippi heat are a beast.

“We practice at night to try and beat the heat, but it’s still almost unbearable at times,” said Covington. “I think what helps us is that so many of the girls are playing travel ball in that weather before we start our practices, but we definitely take tons of water breaks and keep our eyes on how they are feeling.” 

Covington and the Cougars won a state title in 2022 in her first season after taking over for former head coach Becky Flowers. That title was the second in a row for the program. The next year the team lost in the championship series to Parklane, before getting revenge in 2024.

The championship expectation is there and don’t expect Covington or any of her players to shy away from it. The Cougars definitely looked like contenders again on Monday.

“We came ready to play tonight and I’m proud of my seniors and the way they led us,” said Covington. “These kids know what it takes to be the best.”

Brookhaven Academy 2025 Softball Roster

Seniors

Ryleigh Purdy, Miriam Wallace, Whitney Grace Whittington, Alayna Daigle, Morgan Chemin, Annabel Gaskin

Juniors

Madelynn Lambert, Caroline Case

Sophomores

Joleigh Langham, Peyton Davis, Jessi Covington, Mattie Leggett, Laci Brooke Leggett, Swayze Poole

Freshmen

Breece Tullos, Charlee Haire, Ella Edwards, Tinsley Rogers

Eighth graders

Ainsleigh Evans, Anniston Brown, Finley Ybarra, Maggie Ray, Autumn Brown, Abby Wilson

Seventh graders

Mattie Kate Gaudet, Presley Ballard, Kyndal Spencer, Kailey Beth Watts, Kinsley Fuller, Atlee Ruth Goodson