Archives
 By  Staff Reports Published 
6:00 am Thursday, April 15, 2004

Five area softball teams still alive

By By Marty Stamper / EMG sports assistant
April 15, 2004
Five of the seven area fast-pitch softball teams that qualified for the MHSAA state playoffs have advanced to the second round, which begins today.
Still alive are Clarkdale, Neshoba Central, Northeast Lauderdale, Philadelphia, and West Lauderdale.
Choctaw Central and Newton County were both eliminated in the first round.
Clarkdale, the 2003 Class 1A/2A state runner-up, opened the 2004 playoffs with a 6-1, 5-4 series sweep at Bogue Chitto on Saturday. Emily Howard (15-3) was the winning pitcher in both games.
Now 20-4, Clarkdale opens second-round play today at 6:30 p.m. at Richton (14-8). Richton won the decisive game of its first-round series with Ackerman with a 3-0 shutout on Tuesday. Cloe Malone (13-7) tossed a four-hitter to get the win.
Saturday's action at Clarkdale is slated to get underway at 2 p.m.
Clarkdale will be without senior second baseman Brandi Wright, who suffered an adverse reaction to medication after being hit in the face with a thrown ball last week.
Clarkdale head coach Rick Roberson has seen Richton twice, including Tuesday's game at Ackerman.
Richton played in the recent Meridian Fast-Pitch Festival, losing 6-5 to Meridian, 4-0 to Southeast Lauderdale, and 13-0 to Neshoba Central.
Northeast Lauderdale (17-13) swept Pass Christian 2-0, 2-1 on the Gulf Coast in first-round play, with Jana Olczak getting the win in both games.
The Lady Trojans open second-round action today at 4 p.m. at Northeast Park with a doubleheader against three-time defending Class 4A state champion East Central High School. East Central swept South Jones 10-0, 4-1 in the opening round.
Thursday's action was originally slated to be one game at East Central, but was changed to Northeast Park due to a baseball game previously scheduled for East Central, where the baseball and softball fields are in close proximity. A third game, if needed, would be at East Central on Saturday.
West Lauderdale also hopes to continue its road success when the 13-9 Lady Knights go to Summit to take on North Pike (11-10) in second-round action today at 5:30 p.m. The series returns to Collinsville on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
West swept Greene County 6-4, 14-7 in opening-round play last week. North Pike advanced with an 11-3, 11-6 sweep of Collins.
Neshoba Central bounced back from a 1-0 loss in its series opener with New Albany to win the next two games by 4-0 and 18-1 margins. Next up for the Lady Rockets is a home game with Saltillo today. Saltillo advanced with a 6-3 win over Terry on Wednesday after the two split Saturday's doubleheader.
Philadelphia had no problem in its first-round series with Resurrection Catholic, beating the Pascagoula team 13-3 and 7-0. In the second game, freshman Erin Breland carried a perfect game into the seventh inning as the Lady Tornadoes improved to 18-4. Seventh-grader Shelby Smith (11-3) got the win in the opener.
Philadelphia travels to Mize (13-4) for second-round play today at 6 p.m. The Lady Bulldogs, winners of Region 6-1A/2A after Clarkdale, Mize, and Union finished in a three-way tie, swept Salem 6-3, 9-3 in the opening round.
Play resumes at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Philadelphia.
Newton County, the defending Class 3A state champion and the 2004 Region 5-3A champion, saw its season end with a 5-1 loss on the coast to Our Lady Academy on Tuesday. The two split a doubleheader Saturday at Decatur.
, with OLA taking the opener 5-4 and Newton County winning the second contest 9-3.
The Lady Cougars finished 18-13.
Choctaw Central was eliminated with 11-1, 13-0 losses to Region 1-3A champion Kossuth. The Lady Warriors ended their season at 5-9.

Also on Franklin County Times
Thorpe to play at Blue Mountain Christian
High School Sports, News, Russellville, ...
Brannon King For the FCT 
July 16, 2025
RUSSELLVILLE – Brennon Thorpe made his plans official to attend Blue Mountain Christian University and play baseball for the Toppers during a recent s...
Russellville High Class of 1967 gathers, reminisces
Columnists, News, Opinion, ...
HERE AND NOW
July 16, 2025
You can’t really go back to the good old days of high school, but you can pay them a visit now and then. That’s exactly what the RHS Class of 1967 has...
Former Cypress Lakes official to lead Guntersville State Park
Lifestyles, News
Bernie Delinski For the FCT 
July 16, 2025
GUNTERSVILLE — Heath Puckett had an Auburn University degree and golf course superintendent certification in his pocket when he arrived at Cypress Lak...
European travel builds bonds across cultures
Lifestyles, News, Russellville, ...
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
July 16, 2025
RUSSELLVILLE -- A group of Franklin County travelers spent nine days this summer walking through catacombs, exploring castles and standing in places w...
Little Free Library welcomes readers in East Franklin
Lifestyles, News, Phil Campbell
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
July 16, 2025
PHIL CAMPBELL — Eleven-year-old Aiden Hall is an avid reader, but he doesn’t just want to read books. He also wants to share them, and the way he deci...
King becomes elementary curriculum director
Lifestyles, Russellville
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
July 16, 2025
RUSSELVILLE — Molly King says every child can learn, though not necessarily in the same way or on the same day — a belief she plans to carry into her ...
New Junior Leaders begin their training
Franklin County, News
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
July 16, 2025
FRANKLIN COUNTY — Forty-two high school students from across Franklin County are beginning 10 months of hands-on leadership training and community ser...
Fire destroys 2-story garage, guest suite
Main, News, Russellville, ...
Kevin Taylor For the FCT 
July 16, 2025
R U S S E L LV I L L E – Jason Gist leaned against the wall of his home with a look of disgust while dozens of firefighters worked to extinguish a fir...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Stories
July 4, 2025Augusto Simon Diaz, 42, of Russellville, passed away July 4. Visitation and funeral were held at Spry Memorial Chapel on July 12 from 2pm ...
July 16, 2025
July 8, 2025Jamie Kerby Cummings, 41, of Russellville, passed away on July 8. Visitation took place July 13, at Spry Memorial Chapel from 1 pm to 3pm....
July 16, 2025
July 11,2025Julie “JuJu” Welch Black, 63, of Russellville, passed away on July 11.Graveside service was held at 1pm on July 13, at Belgreen Cemetery w...
July 16, 2025
July 9, 2025Scott Noel Benford, age 58, of Muscle Shoals, passed away on July 9. Visitation was held at Pinkard Funeral Home in Russellville on July 1...
July 16, 2025