With a return trip to the NJCAA Division II Softball World Series already secured, the Copiah-Lincoln Wolves have one more game to play in Wesson this season.

Co-Lin will host their rivals from Jones College on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the NJCAA Region 23 championship game. The national tournament takes place in Spartanburg, South Carolina on May 20-25.

Last weekend, both Co-Lin and Jones hosted pod play of the Region 23 bracket.

The Wolves and coach Meleah Howard went 3-0 with a 6-0 win over Northeast Mississippi on Friday, a 15-0 drubbing of LSU-Eunice on Saturday and a 9-1 win over LSU-Eunice on Sunday.

Co-Lin, ranked No. 2 in the final NJCAA Division II poll, is 42-4 on the season and has won 18 straight games. The Wolves also won the MACCC conference title by having the best regular season record in the league.

Jones College (39-13) has also qualified for the upcoming World Series by making the Region 23 finals. The Bobcats started their bracket in Ellisville with a 5-1 win over Northwest Mississippi on Friday. They then needed an extra inning to beat East Central on Saturday by a 7-5 final score. On Sunday, East Central beat the Bobcats 10-6 in their first meeting, setting up a winner take all finale. That final game only went five innings as the Bobcats cruised to a 14-5 win.

Jones and Co-Lin met in a regular season doubleheader on March 19 in Ellisville. Co-Lin won both those games by springing two seventh-inning comebacks to take the opener 7-6 and the finale 13-11.

Between the regular season, region tournament and national tournament, Co-Lin and Jones College played eight times last season, with the Wolves winning six of those games, including two in a row in South Carolina to claim the first national championship in school history.

Co-Lin has been ranked no. 2 for much of the back half of the season and Parkland College (52-4) out of Champaign, Illinois has spent the entire year as the top-ranked team.

Parkland beat Co-Lin 6-4 in Vicksburg at a tournament hosted by Hinds Community College on Feb. 24. That game went to an extra inning and was only the third game of the season for CLCC. Last season Parkland beat Co-Lin in a tournament too, before the Wolves got revenge by beating the Cobras 4-2 in the second round of the 2023 World Series.

CLCC sophomore slugger Abby Grace Richardson became both the program’s single season and career leader in walks over the weekend. The Brookhaven Academy alum has drawn 54 walks this season and has 77 in her career. A Mississippi State signee, she already holds several records including most home runs in a season (24), most home runs in a career (44) and most career RBIs (140).

Co-Lin sophomore outfielder Madison Moak also hit some career milestones over the weekend. With her 77th hit of the season, Moak became the single season hit leader in program history, passing a mark set last season by current Southern Miss Golden Eagles Maddie Weeks. Moak, a product of Brookhaven Academy who’s also signed to next play for Southern Miss, is also the career hits leader now with 140 and counting.

Presale tickets are available for the region championship via the Co-Lin Athletics website. Tickets are $12 now and will go up to $15 on the day of the game. The matchup against Jones will be a single game, winner-take-all championship.