Union jumps out front at Spring Fling

By By Will Bardwell/staff writer
March 20, 2004
The Clarkdale Spring Fling got underway on Friday, and Union jumped to the top of its six-team pool in the 24-team round-robin tournament.
The Lady Yellowjackets won both their games in the first day of the Spring Fling, downing DeSoto Central 10-1 and edging Kossuth 4-3.
Two other local teams, Neshoba Central and host Clarkdale, are 1-1 after Friday. Enterprise and Newton County each dropped two games to fall to the back of their pools.
The tournament consists of four six-team pools, and each team competes exclusively in its pool. Pool winners will be named after today's games based on win-loss records.
Ties will be broken first by head-to-head results, then by least runs allowed and finally by run differential. If a tie still exists for a pool winner, the teams will be named co-champions.
Union
The Lady Yellowjackets took sole possession of Pool 3 with their two wins on Friday. Union pounded DeSoto Central 10-1 before taking a slim 4-3 win over Kossuth.
The victories put Union in front of its Pool 3 opponents heading into today's games. The Lady Yellowjackets face Hale County at 11:30 a.m. and finish Pool 3 play against Eupora at 5:30 p.m.
Neshoba Central
A 9-5 win over Clinton on Friday night helped keep the Lady Rockets in contention in Pool 2. Earlier in the day, Neshoba Central lost 4-0 to Tuscaloosa County.
The Lady Rockets are one of four teams with 1-1 records in Pool 2 and will make their final push for the pool championship today against Demopolis and Southaven. Neshoba plays Demopolis at 10 a.m. and Southaven at 4 p.m.
Clarkdale
The Spring Fling hosts pounded out a 10-4 win against Winona on Friday afternoon in the Pool 1 opener, but lost 5-2 to Gautier in its second game of the day.
Whitney Drachenberg went 2-for-3 with two doubles in the win over Winona, and the Lady Bulldogs got two runs apiece from Emily Howard, Sabrina Woodall and Alyssa Bye.
Winona scored one run in the top of the sixth inning to pull into a 4-4 tie, but Clarkdale pounded out six runs in the bottom half of the inning to put the game out of reach.
The Lady Bulldogs held a brief 1-0 lead over Gautier after Brandi Wright came across in the first inning, but it was the last run Clarkdale scored until the sixth inning. Gautier countered with three runs in the second inning and two more in the third.
Howard, who was 1-for-3 in the game, came scored the Lady Bulldogs' final run.
The win over Clarkdale was the second win of the day for Gautier, which sits atop Pool 1 at 2-0.
Enterprise
Enterprise lost both its Friday games, dropping a 5-2 decision to Hale County in its first contest and losing 9-1 to Eupora. Union leads Pool 3 with wins in both its first two games.
The Lady Bulldogs will take on Kossuth at 10 a.m. today and finish with a 4 p.m. contest against DeSoto Central.
Newton County
The Lady Cougars fell to the back of Pool 4 on Friday after two close losses. Newton County was shut out 2-0 by Mooreville, then lost 2-1 Harrison Central.
Dominique Mapp and Joy Cavenaugh each collected hits for Lady Cougars against Mooreville, with Mapp finishing 1-for-3 and Cavenaugh going 1-for-2 with a walk.
Mapp had another 1-for-3 performance in the loss to Harrison Central, and Chassidy Smith was 1-for-2. Jennifer Smith scored the Lady Cougars' only run in the second inning.
Harrison Central is in first place in Pool 4 with two wins.
Newton County plays Pascagoula at 10 a.m. and Caledonia at 4 p.m.