Lawrence County 24, Brookhaven 10

Lawrence County run-ruled Brookhaven High School in their matchup at the Ole Brook Invitational Tournament on Saturday. In their previous games on the day, the Lady Cougars beat Warren Central 22-2 and were beaten 24-9 by Northwest Rankin.

Against Lawrence County, the Lady Panthers grabbed an early lead, but would see the Lady Cougars score nine runs in the second inning and put the game away with 12 runs in the third.

“We hit the ball well today,” said Lady Cougars coach Marc Howard. “We didn’t play great defense from time to time, but we battled through. We’re trying to get in a groove, so we can finish strong through the rest of the year.”

BHS scored their first run on an RBI sacrifice fly by Cearia Henderson. Kyla Henderson finished the scoring with a two-run home run later in the inning.

In the top of the second, Ashley Holden scored the Lady Cougars’ first run off an RBI single. Molly Davis kept the scoring going with an RBI single of her own. With the bases still loaded, Lawrence County scored again on a walk. The Lady Cougars finished their scoring in the second off an RBI sacrifice by Sydney Pevey, a home run by Skyler Speights and an RBI double by Alyssa Lambert.

BHS bounced back in their half of the second, scoring seven runs to lead 10-9. With two outs and two runners on bases, Miller started the rally with an RBI double. The Lady Panthers would score one run off an error by the Lady Cougars. Kyla Henderson drove in a run on an RBI single. Meg Foster drove in two runs off a double. Sharquita Cook finished the scoring for the Lady Panthers with an RBI single.

The Lady Cougars rallied in the top of the third, bringing 12 runs in. Holden hit a home run, Julianna Johnson had an RBI single and Speights hit a two-run home run. Davis hit an RBI single, Ready hit a two RBI single and Pevey hit a two-run dinger.

“We just didn’t hit and didn’t score in every inning,” Lady Panthers coach Mandy Vinson said. “We had a few errors that hurt us and walked too many batters, which hurt us. We gave up big hits and you can’t walk batters and give up big hits.”

Brookhaven 12, Wesson 5

The Lady Panthers brought the heat in their opener, driving in five runs in the third inning to seize control of the game.

With the bases loaded, Arie Douglas brought in Wesson’s first run in off an RBI single in the top of the second. Katie McSweyn also had an RBI in the inning.

Batting in their half of the second, the Lady Panthers got the two runs back and added an extra run. Layla Woodall brought in Ole Brook’s first two runs in off an RBI double. Kat Wallace finished the scoring in the second inning with an RBI single.

Leading 3-2 heading into the bottom half of the third, the Lady Panthers continued their scoring ways, as they batted five runs in.

With the bases loaded up, Ole Brook scored one run off of a single. Angel Wilkerson hit an RBI double and Woodall had an RBI single.

The Lady Cobras found the board again in the fifth inning off a two-run single.

The Lady Panthers responded by getting three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Maddi Miller brought in a run off an RBI sacrifice. Wallace notched an RBI double.

The Lady Cobras finished their scoring in the sixth inning on an RBI single by Anna Claire Crow.

Wesson 11, Warren Central 6

With the heat glaring down and players feeling ill, the Lady Cobras pulled together to pick up their first win on the day.

“Since Sept. 6, we haven’t played with our full roster,” said Lady Cobras coach Michelle Nunnery. “We’ve been plagued with players either being hurt or getting sick, but I am proud of the girls’ efforts in the game.”

Wesson was the first to find the scoreboard, scoring two runs to start off the game. With the bases loaded with Lady Cobras, Marley Channell hit an  RBI single. Shelbi Maxwell would follow with a sacrifice fly.

Wesson took full control of the game in the second inning, batting eight runs across home plate. With one out and the bases loaded, the Lady Cobras scored off an RBI single by Crow. Shalyn Green, Channell, Catharine Wilson and Lexi Ashley would all plate RBIs for Wesson in the inning.

The Lady Cobras would score their final run of the contest in the fourth inning off a bases-loaded RBI single by Maxwell.

Brookhaven 7, Northwest Rankin 4

The Lady Panthers had a tough challenge of stopping the Northwest Lady Cougars offense, which had scored 20 or more runs in their first two games.

Bouncing back from their loss against Lawrence County, Ole Brook kept the Lady Cougar offense in check, allowing only four runs through six innings.

“This morning we came out and got a good win against Wesson,” Lady Panthers senior Kat Wallace said. “We kind of fell off against Lawrence County, but we were able to have some mental toughness tonight and win game three.”

Wallace got the Lady Panthers started with a two-out double in the first inning. Cearia Henderson followed with a two-run home run. With two outs, Cook finished off the scoring with a two-run home run of her own.

The Lady Panthers got a run in the fourth off an RBI triple by Kyja Willis.

Ole Brook scored two runs in their half of the sixth off back-to-back home runs by Angel Wilkinson and Kaysha Richardson.

“I’m extremely proud of the girls,” Vinson said. “Last year we went and played Northwestern Rankin and they basically played home run derby on us. The girls kind of came into the game feeling like they were the underdogs. This was a game on our schedule that the girls were excited about playing because they felt like they had something to prove. I think this was a good game to get us rolling for next week to finish out district play.”

Story by Dave Linton