Photo: Lewisburg’s Leona Klaire Stokes comes home following her first inning, three-run homer against Tupelo Thursday evening. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
Playoff softball is underway for DeSoto County high school teams and the Lewisburg Lady Patriots took a step forward in their series with Tupelo with a 12-2, game one victory.
Leona Klaire Stokes’ three-run homer to left in the bottom of the first provided all the runs the 1-7A region champions would need, but Lewisburg coach Brooke Van de Vuurst felt it was important to start fast and strong.
“I feel like sometimes just getting the first one under your belt in the playoff series is really important to knock the dust off, get the nerves out and you know, kind of get in that mentality for playoffs,” Van de Vuurst said. “It (the homer) gave a little bit of a momentum shift. It gave my pitcher a deep breath and I think that made all the difference in the world, for sure.”
The home run gave Lewisburg a 3-1 in a contest that became a defensive battle from the first inning until the Lady Patriots tacked three more runs on the board in the fifth inning for a 6-1 lead. Winning pitcher Emma Abrams did allow two runs in the complete-game victory and fanned eight, while scattering six hits in the win.
“She’s been excellent all year,” Van de Vuurst said of Abrams. “She’s been consistent. She’s been dominant. And she’s kind of, you know, given our defense a break for sure.”
Tupelo would get a run in the sixth inning for a 6-2 lead, but the Lady Patriots got aggressive on the base paths late in the game to break it open in the sixth for a 10-run-rule victory.
“We needed to get back to the basics, make their defense work a little bit, and kind of show off some of our speed to get some runs going and get a momentum shift again,” Van de Vuurst said.
When Bailee Davis and Annie Trebiani both scored on a wild pitch with two out in the sixth, the game ended on the 10-run rule.
Lewisburg benefitted from four Tupelo errors while the Lady Patriots banged out 11 hits. Three of those hits came from leadoff hitter Leah Walker and one of those was a double.
Anna Etter and Payton Moss also doubled in addition to Stokes’ first-inning roundtripper.
Stokes, Etter, and Davis each drove in three runs.
Game two in the series is in Tupelo on Friday, April 26 at 6 p.m. with a deciding game back to Lewisburg on Monday evening, if needed.
The other DeSoto County softball teams that qualified for the playoffs start their series Friday when DeSoto Central travels to Clinton and Hernando hosts Madison Central in 7A, while Lake Cormorant opens its series at Neshoba Central in 6A.
LADY TROJANS STYMIE MUNFORD: Northpoint Christian’s softball team stopped Munford 12-2 in a five inning regular season softball game Thursday afternoon at Northpoint. The Lady Trojans scored 11 runs in the first three innings and added one more in the fifth inning to end the contest.
Katy Bobo hit a pair of triples and Macie Dever-Boaz also tripled among 15 Lady Trojan hits. Bobo and Makenlee Bryant each collected three RBIs.
Trinity Garvin was the winning pitcher for the Lady Trojans, allowing two runs and fanning two.
Munford scored solo runs in the first and again in the third inning.
SPORTS ETC.: Two members of the Hernando football team Thursday signed to play college football next season at Belhaven University.
— Hernando Tigers Football (@HHS_TigersFB) April 26, 2024
Hernando’s Cole Stiddard was announced Thursday among the Mississippi Association of Coaches North Boys’ Team All-Stars. All-Star boys and girls from the North and South will compete in Jackson on June 13. Stiddard is coached by Cynthia Coleman.
