Photo: Hernando players celebrate with Macie Dever Boaz after her fifth-inning home run against Lewisburg. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
May 3, 2025 – The Hernando High School softball team is known to have a talented stable of pitchers, four players who can spin strikes with the best of them.
Junior Haylee Jackson is among the pitching quartet coach Nicki Whitten has at her disposal and when Jackson shut down the Lewisburg offense in a 7-1 victory Friday night that evened the MHSAA 7A second-round playoff series at one-game each, Whitten said there was no doubt who she would call on to pitch in Saturday’s series-deciding game three.
“Absolutely, she was who we wanted to give the ball to, for sure,” Whitten said. “She deserved the ball in her hand tonight. She wanted it, too.”
Jackson delivered with an even better performance Saturday than Friday, as she handcuffed Lady Patriot bats to just one hit, a run-scoring single to right from Lexi Edmiston that scored Leona-Klaire Stokes from second in the Lewisburg sixth inning.
Coming together as a team after the game-one loss to Lewisburg 10-8 was a key to the last two games, Jackson said.
“We all came together as a team after that first loss, and I’m very proud of us, and we’re gonna do this thing,” Jackson said.
Whitten said she challenged her team to step up and produce more at the plate.
“Before the game, we just asked everybody, one through nine offensively, to contribute, and I feel like they did that tonight,” Whitten said. “Haylee holding them to one run with our defense behind her, I couldn’t ask her more.”
Jackson walked five and struck out five, but kept Lewisburg from bunching opportunities together in the Lady Tigers’ 30th win of the season (31-2) entering this weekend’s North Half finals against Madison Central.
Designated player Kaitlyn Gentry had three hits for Hernando and Olivia Higginbotham had two runs-batted-in. Callie Desmond doubled and Macie Dever Boaz homered to open the bottom of the sixth inning.
“She’s added a lot to our offense,” Whitten said of Dever Boaz. “Anytime she’s in the box, you know that she’s gonna hit the ball somewhere. The ball is gonna be put in play and it’s gonna be hit hard somewhere.”
NORTHPOINT CHRISTIAN BASEBALL 7, EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN 4
Hours after Vail Perkins’ three-run walkoff homer gave Northpoint an 11-8 win over University School of Jackson and with the win secured a spot in the TSSAA Division II-A state playoffs, the Trojans were back at it Saturday afternoon, posting a 7-4 over Evangelical Christian (ECS) at Gagliano Field in Memphis. The win moved the Trojans into a Monday meeting with St. George’s (Collierville) in the double-elimination West Region tournament and sets up Monday’s winner to take on Lausanne Collegiate in the championship round.
The Eagles had a 4-0 lead in the third inning before Northpoint scored a pair of runs. The difference in the game became a five-run fifth inning that gave coach Stephen Kirkpatrick’s team Saturday’s victory.
Landon Lay and Jack Harrell each drove in a pair of runs for Northpoint and five players each had two hits against four ECS pitchers. Jayden Parker and Nolan Bone had two hits each with Parker hitting a double.
Kirkpatrick described his team as “resilient” in coming from behind to win.
“You know, we were down again, and the pitching and defense kept us in it,” Kirkpatrick said. “We finally will hit the big inning and we did it when we needed to.”
Freshman pitcher Palmer King got the win with six innings of work, allowed eight hits, four earned runs, and struck out five while allowing one walk. Kaden Clayborn worked the seventh inning in relief and struck out one.
Monday’s winner actually faces a doubleheader as the Northpoint-St. George’s winner plays Lausanne Collegiate in the championship round. The task is daunting coming from the loser’s bracket as Northpoint would need to beat St. George’s and Lausanne on Monday, and Lausanne again on Tuesday to win the region title.
ECS becomes the fourth seed from the West Region in the upcoming state playoffs and Northpoint can now finish no worse than third.
SCOREBOARD
Saturday, May 3
Prep baseball
TSSAA Division II-A West Region tournament
At Gagliano Field, Memphis
Northpoint Christian 7, Evangelical Christian 4
Northpoint to play St. George’s Monday at 4:30 p.m.
Prep softball
MHSAA 7A second round (best of three-game three)
Hernando 6, Lewisburg 1 (Hernando wins 2-1)
Haylee Jackson throws a one-hitter, Hernando to play Madison Central in North Half finals
