By By Ryan Satcher / staff writer
Sept. 11, 2002
Very few people expected Wayne County to beat Meridian High School in slow-pitch softball this season, but the Lady War Eagles just about came away with a victory over the Lady Wildcats on Tuesday night.
Meridian scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and held on to beat Wayne County 14-12.
The Lady War Eagles outplayed MHS for most of the game. Wayne County took advantage of error-after-error by the Lady Wildcat defense and nearly pulled out the huge win.
The Lady War Eagles jumped out to an early 4-0 in the top of the first. Wayne County took advantage of four Meridian errors and two walks to score the runs.
Meridian got two of the runs back in the bottom of the first. Carsheena Blanks came through with a two-run homer to put the Lady Wildcats back within two at 4-2.
In the second inning, MHS scored one more run. Raven Williams reached base on a single and scored on a rip by Erin Murphy to cut the lead to 4-3.
The Lady Wildcats finally took their first lead in the bottom of the third inning. Blanks reached base when her line drive was dropped. Valarie Sherman smashed the ball past an infielder to bring in Blanks to tie the game. With two outs, Wayne County went for the lead runner at third base and was unsuccessful. Artesian Boyd followed with a triple to bring in two Lady Wildcat baserunners. Boyd scored when a flyball by Williams was dropped to make the score 7-4.
The Lady War Eagles answered with seven runs with two outs in the fifth inning to take the lead back. K.K. Kittrell reached on a fielder's choice and moved to third on a single and error by Britta Howard. Lynnsey Dearman followed with a two-run triple. Another run came in when Lauren Pittman reached on an error. After a walk, Cartier Powe's fly ball was dropped to allow another run to score.
After another walk, Chasity Davis had a two-run single to make the score 10-7. A single by Stephanie Bond brought in the final run of the inning to make the score 11-7.
The Lady Wildcats scored a run in the fifth. Natalie Cole singled and later scored on a single by Williams to make the score 11-8.
Meridian came back in the sixth inning to take the lead. Murphy tripled to start the inning. Laura Bowles singled, and an error allowed the run to score. Amber Felton also singled and another error allowed another run to score. Sherman tied the game up with a double off the outfield fence. A double by Ashley Brown and a single by Ebonee Ball brought in two more runners. Cole brought in the final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to make the score 14-11.
The Lady War Eagles loaded the bases with two outs and scored a run on a walk by Davis, but could not complete another comeback and the Lady Wildcats won 14-12.
The win improves Meridian's record to 10-5 on the season. The Lady Wildcats will host Quitman on Thursday night with the junior varsity game starting at 6 p.m. and the varsity game beginning at about 7 p.m.