Lady ‘Cats take lead in third round

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By Jacob Grimes
Mississippi Spirit

With victory number 23 of the season, the Sebastopol Lady Bobcats put themselves on the verge of returning to the state fast-pitch semifinals Thursday night.

Bogue Chitto’s Lady Bobcats rolled into Bishop Park looking to steal home field advantage, but the pitching of Savannah Crout and Sebastopol’s bats withstood the test for a 4-1 win.

But rain ruled the rest of the week, delaying the resumption of the third round series until Monday night in Lincoln.

Crout was dominant in the circle, giving up just one hit over seven innings  with three scattered walks and eight strikeouts.

Just two batters into the game Crout and the Lady Bobcats were up by a run after Marlee Smith reached second base on a lead-off error, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Mattie  Byram.

Sebastopol added its second run of the game in the third after Lakin Wooten reached on an error.

Back-to-back singles by Smith and Byram loaded the bases with one out, and Wooten scored on an error to set the score at 2-0.

The score remained the same until the top of the sixth when Bogue Chitto’s lead-off batter singled and eventually crossed the plate.

Sebastopol’s counter to that score came quickly, however, as Jaylee Coleman parked the fourth pitch of bottom of the sixth over the centerfield wall to put SHS back up by two at 3-1.

Three pitches later, Crout doubled and after stealing third she scored on a single by Payton Chamblee to give SHS a 4-1 cushion.

Crout then slammed the door on the win by striking out the first two BC batters of the seventh, and inducing a pop-up for the final out.

Bogue Chitto’s pitcher had a strong performance as well, limiting SHS to six hits in the game while recording seven strikeouts, but the homestanding Lady ‘Cats made the most of their opportunities.

Coleman’s home run was her third of the season, and Crout finished the game 2-for-3 with a double at the plate.

Byram, Chamblee, and Smith had one hit apiece, all singles.

If the weather finally cooperated on Monday and the Lady Bobcats were able to complete the sweep on the road, they advanced to the semifinal round to take on the winner between Stringer and Ethel.

Ethel, a rival of the Lady Bobcats in Region 5-1A, took the upper hand in that series with a 10-3 win Saturday.

Game two between Ethel and Stringer was also scheduled for Monday night. If either or both of those series required game three the games were set to be contested on Tuesday.

In the 1A North region the semifinal battle was already set between West Union and Smithville.

West Union swept Wheeler while Smithville moved forward with a sweep of Vardaman.

The state softball championships will be hosted by the University of Southern Mississippi  next week.