The Brookhaven Academy Cougars are the 2025 MAIS 5A State Champions after sweeping their best of three series against Parklane Academy with a 9-6 road victory in game two on Thursday night in McComb.

The championship is the third in four seasons for BA and gave the program a measure of revenge against Parklane Academy after the Pioneers beat the Cougars in the title series last season.

Tied 6-6 in the top of the seventh inning with the bases loaded and two outs, Brookhaven Academy junior center fielder Alayna Daigle provided one of the most memorable plays in school history, as her double to center cleared the bases and put the Cougars ahead for good.

A night after BA head coach Lisa Covington saw her team go down 2-0 at home, only to come back for a 3-2 win, the teams battled in another game with wild momentum swings.Parklane led 2-0 before BA tied the game up at 2-2 following the top of the third. The Pioneers then jumped right back ahead 5-2 after three complete innings.

BA had its biggest inning of the night in the top half of the fourth, scoring four runs to go ahead 6-5, but that advantage didn’t last the full inning as Parklane scored once in the bottom half to tie the game again at 6-6.

That’s where the score stood though the fifth and sixth, before Daigle broke it open for BA in the top of the seventh. The Cougars outhit the Pioneers 12-8.

Both teams started different pitchers on Thursday than they did on Wednesday, but then later both put in their game one starters in as relief during game two.

BA starting pitcher Kensy Covington gave up seven hits and five runs in three innings. She was spelled by Ann Elise Duncan, who struck out three, walked three, and gave up one unearned run on one hit. Duncan threw 63 pitches a night after going seven innings and striking out 12 on 132 pitches in the series opener.

The starter for Parklane in game two was Phiffer Crawford. Crawford had thrown one inning in relief on Wednesday. In game two she went 3.1 innings with two strikeouts, and one walk. She gave up eight hits and six earned runs while throwing 89 pitches.

Game one starter Ashleigh Reed Sharp came on in relief for the Pioneers and pitched 3.2 innings on Thursday. Sharp struck out one, walked one and gave up four runs (three earned) on four hits.

The seventh inning went from near disaster to unforgettable in the blink of an eye as the final turn at-bat for BA began with senior slugger Annaston Poole leading the inning off.

Poole smoked a double to center field and then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Kensy Covington. The next batter was junior Morgan Chemin and her ball hit down the third base line allowed the Pioneers to throw home and get Poole as she tried to score the go-ahead run.

With Chemin on first and two away, Duncan hit a huge single that kept the inning alive. A night after her solo home run got the BA offense cranked up and ready to rally, Duncan went down 0-2 in the count to Sharp before ending a 10 pitch at-bat with her single.

The Pioneers then intentionally walked freshman catcher Swayze Poole, which loaded the bases and set up Daigle’s game winning two-bagger.

For more coverage of the Cougar’s state title win, check out the weekend edition of The Daily Leader in print and online.