There may not be a more daunting road to postseason glory in any athletic association or classification in the state of Mississippi than the one traveled to win a MAIS 5A softball state championship.

The league is filled with top level talent and features an unforgiving tournament structure that has teams playing a South/North state level event one week and then following it up with the state tournament the next week that then feeds into a 3-game, championship series.

You don’t have to remind Brookhaven Academy fans of how good the competition is as the Cougars hosted the MAIS 5A South State Tournament on Saturday and Monday at the Hansel King Sports Complex.

After opening the Saturday portion of play with two blowout wins, the Cougars took their first loss of the double elimination tourney by a 2-0 final score to Parklane on Monday. BA bounced back to eliminate Cathedral in their next game, but could not beat Parklane in the finale, losing 13-3 to the Pioneers.

It’s the second straight season for the Pioneers to win the 5A South State Tournament, something they did in 2023 on their way to beating BA in the 5A State Championship Series.

The 5A North State bracket was still being sorted out at press time, so the next opponent for Brookhaven in the 5A State Tournament beginning on Saturday in Magee is still to be determined, though the Cougars know they’ll play at 12 p.m. in their opener.

What is known is teams from Bayou Academy, Leake Academy, Simpson Academy, and East Rankin Academy will join BA, Parklane, Cathedral School, and Oak Forest Academy in the eight-team bracket for the state title.

Oak Forest will face whoever the top seed is out of the 5A North State Tournament, with that likely being Bayou Academy. BA will face off against the third seeded team from that bracket, likely Simpson Academy. The winner of those two matchups then will play in the second round.

Parklane and Cathedral, the only two schools to beat Brookhaven Academy (25-5), will be on the opposite side of the bracket.

The Parklane Pioneers hold a 3-1 advantage in head-to-head matchups this season with BA as the first meeting on Tuesday was a typical nail-biter between the rivals. PA scratched together one run in the fifth and one in the sixth while outhitting BA 3-2 in the high stakes, winner’s bracket pairing.

Brookhaven senior pitcher Ann Elise Duncan struck out 11, walked three and gave up three hits in six innings. Senior pitcher AR Sharp of Parklane was equally impressive, striking out six and allowing just two hits.

A Morgan Chemin double and a Miriam Wallace single were the only hits that the Cougar offense could muster against Sharp.

Facing elimination, coach Lisa Covington and her Cougars did something they hadn’t accomplished thus far in 2024, beating Cathedral School.

Trailing 5-3 after four complete innings, BA came storming back to win 9-5 and bounce the Green Wave from the tournament. Cathedral was 2-0 against the Cougars during the regular season behind the strong pitching of Lily Crum.

The Cougar bats generated 11 hits in the win over Cathedral. Duncan homered as did senior slugger Annaston Poole. Poole and Duncan both doubled as well, and BA got a double each out of Chemin and Kensy Covington respectively.

Brookhaven Academy started tournament play on Saturday with a hot offense as they beat St. Aloysius 11-1 and Copiah Academy 16-1 to set up their first matchup with Parklane.

Duncan also hit a home run and a double against St. Al while Madelynn Lambert hit a triple and Poole also smacked a double. Duncan drove in five runs and Poole drove in four in that 11-1 victory.

Pool then homered in the blowout of Copiah as did Covington. Poole, Lambert and Alayna Daigle all hit doubles as well in that 16-1 win, with Poole driving in six runs against Copiah.

Both Covington and Duncan pitched in the win over Cathedral. Whitney Grace Whittington drew the start in the second game of the day against Parklane while the Pioneers countered with three different pitchers in that 13-3 win.

PA led 5-3 through the first three innings, before getting four runs in the bottom of the fourth to break the game open.

The Cougars beat Parklane 4-2 when the schools first met this season in Summitt. Parklane returned the favor with a 3-1 win at BA a few weeks later.

The teams are no strangers to each other, as they battled throughout the postseason last year.

The goal for anyone playing in the MAIS 5A State Tournament is to start with a 3-0 record. If you do that, then you’ll receive one of the two spots in a 3-game championship series that is played later in the week. The other championship series spot goes to the team that battles out of the loser’s bracket.

Last season BA beat Bayou and East Rankin to start 5A bracket play before losing to Parklane in a matchup of unbeaten teams. The Cougars were able to advance to the championship series by beating Cathedral 6-3. The Cougars then stayed hot by winning game one of the championship series with Parklane by a 5-1 final score, only to see the Pioneers bounce back with 7-3 and 11-1 wins to claim the title.