Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Lady Wildcats ‘pretty as pink’ in 2-0, 15-5 sweep of EMCC
PRCC softball team improves to 7-3

    POPLARVILLE — Pearl River’s Lady Wildcats pulled off a second doubleheader softball sweep over East Mississippi in a week here Tuesday, trimming the Lady Lions 2-0 in the first game of the twin bill before recording a five-inning, 10-1 lopsided victory in the nightcap.
    PRCC improved to 7-3 overall with the wins, while EMCC dropped to 1-9.
    The Lady Wildcats swept the Lady Lions 1-0 adn 16-1 Feb. 16 in Scooba.
    Tuesday’s goings-on was the Lady Wildcats’ second-annual Breast Cancer Awareness Doubleheader — better known as the "Pink Games" — with all proceeds from the event going to the Deanna Favre Foundation. Favre, the wife of legendary NFL quarterback Brett Favre, was a Pearl River basketball player in the late 1980s.
    In the first game, Lady Wildcat starter Sheila Hall out of Dutchtown High School in Baton Rouge, La., hurled a one-hitter en route to collecting the win and improving to 2-3 on the year. In fact, East Miss’ sole hit of the contest came off the first batter Hall faced in the game when Cayla Coleman doubled.
    Courtney Nunn started and went the distance in both games for the Lady Lions, giving up five Lady Wildcat hits in the first game and a whopping 15 in the nightcap.
    Pearl River scored its first run in the opening contest off a lead off home run by Bethany Russell of D’Iberville High in the second inning. The Lady Wildcats’ 1-0 edge held true until the bottom of the fifth when Mallorie Mixon of Picayune High led off with a single, moved to second off a ground out by Jordan Adams of D’Iberville High, then went to third when Lacey Freeman of Forrest County AHS outran an infield grounder to first.
    After Freeman stole second, Brandy Rester of Poplarville High cracked an RBI single for the game’s final run. Laurin Locke of Petal High followed with a base on balls to load the bases, but Baliegh Volking of Enterprise High flew out to center to end the inning.
    Hall went the distance for The River, striking out four and walking one.
    Russell’s homer paced the Lady Wildcats at the plate, while Freeman, Locke, Mixon, and Rester all had base hits.
    Pearl River played error free in the game, while East Mississippi had one defensive miscue.
    In the nightcap, PRCC went up 3-0 in the bottom of the first frame and never looked back. EMCC added its only run in the top of the second, but Pearl River answered with two in the bottom of the frame, then added two more in the third and three in fourth.
    Lady Wildcat starter Corinne Fraychineaud out of Northshore High in Slidell, La. (3-0), got the win in her four innings on the mound, giving up five hits, striking out five, and walking one before Katie Barrett of Bay High relieved in the top of the fifth. Barrett recorded two strikeouts.
    The Lady Lions managed singles by Leigh Ellen Barefield, Courtney Castleberry, Nunn, Mallory Pace, and Deshuni Sanders.
    Rester paced Pearl River’s 15-hit attack with three singles, while Adams smacked a two-run homer and tripled (two RBIs), Kaci Mitchell of Petal High tripled and singled (one RBI), Mykeal Mayes of Hancock County High doubled and singled, Brittney Gary of Slidell (La.) High and Volking (three RBIs) had two singles each, and Russell and Laken Taormina of Sumrall High (one RBI) both had base hits.
    Both teams played error-free in the game.
    The Lady Wildcats return to action this Friday and Saturday when it hosts its annual Pearl River Tournament in Lady Wildcat Stadium. Other participating teams include Copiah-Lincoln, East Central, East Mississippi, Faulkner State (Ala.), Heartland (Ill.), Itawamba, and LSU-Eunice (La.).