2011

EC softball advances to division championship The state champion and

throughom the post season and to this point," said Hill. "We wanted to get off to a good start with an operuog round win on Thun.day. We wanted to qualify for the national tournament on Friday. And we wanted to win the region on Saturday. We accomplished two out of three goals. Unfortu– nately, we just could not get the offense started up throughout the entire tournament. I feel like our chances would have been a bit better if we could have put a little more together at the plate. We truly relied on our pitching and defense which held up for all four games. It says a lot about the character ofthis team to battle the way they have each and every game." Hill said the Lady Diamond Warriors are now focused on doing well in the national tourna– ment 'We look forward to compet– ing in the nationals and represent– ing East Central and Mississippi to the best of our ability," Hill said. Fund-raismg efforts are under way to help send the Lady Dia– mond Warriors to the prestigious event. Contributions are being

received in the Office of Devel– opment and Alumni Relations. CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS ln Saturday's championship round, East Central fell 1-0 in the first game behind Heather Abshire's perfect game. The 5-5 sophomore from Lafayette, La., completely shut down the EC offense, fanning five batters in the process. Taylor Bailey, a sophomore hurler from Bowie High School inAustin, Texas, took the loss for EC in the seven-inning battle. Bailey was again superb on the mound and allowed just ooe run on seven hits. She fanned two batters. In the decisive second game for the Region 23 Tournament title, East Central grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third inning when freshman Kelsi Watson of Smithville scored from third fol– lowing a single by sophomore Kasie Buckley, a product ofNew– ton County High School. The lead held up to the sixth inning, when the Lady Bengals tallied three runs, highlighted by a run ·scoring single from Ashley See SOFTBALL, page 9A • II

nationally-ranked East Central Community College softball team was just a win awa) from capturing a second-straight Region 23 Tournament title but the Lady Diamond Wam.ors fell twice to top-ranked LSU-Euruce in the championship finals Sarur– day, May 7 to claim runner-up honors. The three-day. double– elimination competition was held at Traceway Park in Clinton. East Central, ranked 19th prior to the Reg~on 23 Tourna– ment, sports a 34-13 record under head coach Scott Hill and assis– tant Kristin Chaney. The champi– onship squad is making its sec– ond-straight appearance in the NJCAA Division ll National Softball Championship held in Normal, illinois. This year's event is scheduled May 19-21. The Lady Diamond Warriors fin– ished fourth in the 2010 tourna– ment en route to a 47-11-1 record. Although disappointed with Saturday's results, Coach Hill said he was "very proud" of his team's effort against the nation's top-rated softball program. ''I'm very pleased with the way this team has performed