2005

_..}-- . ECCC goes 1-1 in opening day

By Marty Stamper staff writer

DECATlJR- The East Central Community College LadyWarriors experienced t~~ hig~s and lows of the fast-pitch softball world I•nday tn the opening day of the MACJC State/Region XXIII Tournament. . ECCC opened with a 3-1 victory ov_er fourth– ranked Copiah-Lincoln. then dropped tts sec~md game 5-0 to Northeast Mississippi and fell mto the losers' bracket. The loss to 1\ortheast snapped a school record 25-game win streak. ECCC (32-4) faces Northwest Mississippi (33-6) at 2 p.m. today and needs five wins to ~dvan~e to the nationals at Fort Dodge, Iowa, whtch wtll be See Lady Warriors Page 82

improved its record to 32-3. "We had some young ladies that really stepped up and had some crucial hits along with a good pitching performance and a good defensive performance." Hill said. The LadyWarriors lost the services of shortstop Kristin Chaney for the game afler she was hit by a pitch on the upper left arm in the bottom of the third~ inning. X-rays were negative. ECCC took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Dominique Mapp started the rally with a single to center field. Jennifer Smith and Lauren White drew walks to load the bases with one out. Suzanne Chaney gave the Lady Warriors the lead with a two-run single to left field. Co-Lin (27-5) got its only run in the top of the sixth as

From Page 81

Jessica Melton reached on an error, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brandi Bridges after a sacrifice bunt by Megan Bateman. .Marley Smith (16-0) struck out five and walked one. The only runner she allowed over the first four innings came on a bunt single by Bridges in the top of the firsl Mapp and Suzanne Chaney both had two singles for ECCC. Emily Horne (21- 5) took the loss. Nor theast ECCC 5 0 Northeast jumped on ECCC sLarter Lindsey Smith (8-3) right off the bat, getting a pair of two-run homers from Torie Malone and Amber Hass in the first ....

inning. Hass' blast chased Smith after just a third of an inning. Marley Smith tossed the final 6 2/3 innings, allowing only one unearned run off four hits. Slie struck out five and walked two. Northeast's Brenda Der– byshire (13--5) ofWhite Rock British Columbia, Canada: kept the ECCC batters in check as she allowed five hits and no walks, while striking out seven. ECCC's only major threat came in the bottom of the fifth as Joy Cavenaugh dou– bled and went to third on a two-out single by Kristin Chaney. Derbyshire got Boyd on a comebacker to get out of the inning. Five players each had one hit for ECCC, with Cave– naugh and Abby Miller both getting a double.

held May 19-21.

"You win that first ball– game and you feel like you're just getting into the tourna– ment good," ECCC head coach Scott Hill said. 'Then you're back in the loser's bracket. Even though you've won one game, you're back to square one. "We'll just have to see what we're made of (today) ... The Lady Warriors got a two-hitter from Marley Smith and a two-run single from Suzanne Chaney to knock off the fourth-ranked Lady Wolves in their first-round game. ECCC extended its win– ning streak tc. 25 and ECCC Co-Lin 3 1

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