BROOKHAVEN — Blue and red balloons floated in the painted sunset sky, family around the pitcher’s circle and Stephanie Rushing Reynaud held a picture frame with a jersey and pictures of her daughter Maggie Reynaud. Brookhaven celebrated its softball senior night with a 13-7 win over Bogue Chitto Tuesday. 

Maggie Reynaud started the game as the pitcher and threw seven complete innings to earn a win. She had three strikeouts and gave up just two earned runs. 

Her senior teammate Cookie Wilkinson reached base five times with three hits and two walks. Cookie had a double and stole three bases in the game. As a team, Brookhaven had 14 hits and capitalized on Bogue Chitto’s nine errors. 

It was a junior who shone on senior night. Gabbie Cameron had two hits, three RBIs and a stolen base. She has played softball since t-ball and started playing at Ole Brook her freshman year. Her mentality at the plate helped the team. 

“In my head I just thought I have to hit. We have to get hits. I knew I had to drive people in,” Cameron said. “It paid off. These seniors are my heart. I’m glad we got a win. It is their last home game. They won and we got to see them smiling. I’m not really close with either one of them. I’m kind of quiet but when the time comes we do have fun.” 

Brookhaven head coach Mandy Vinson told the girls it was one of their better defensive performances. Bogue Chitto was held to four hits and scored seven runs, the majority coming in the top of the third inning. 

Ole Brook responded with three runs in the bottom half of the inning and added two more runs in the fifth and in the sixth innings. Cameron said the response was the turning point in the game. 

She said the team has continued to work hard throughout the season. “We are picking ourselves up and we are keeping each other up in the dugout,” Cameron said. 

Brookhaven has four more games left, one is on the road at Franklin County this Friday, one is on Monday at East Marion and the other two will be against Columbia next Tuesday. 

While the season is not over yet, Cameron is a year away from celebrating her own senior night. She plans to get a degree in nursing once she graduates from high school. Her hope is to work in a hospital with newborn babies because she likes babies and helping others. Cameron loves softball and will miss the senior class. 

“I love softball. I have played it since I was five and I have always loved it,” she said. “I will miss the seniors. I’ll miss the huddles and the bus rides and all of the funny tik-tok dances we do.”