By Staff
COLLISION – Lawrence County's Ashley Autman is safe at first as she collides with Northeast Lauderdale's Amber Gray on Wednesday afternoon. PHOTO BY PAULA MERRITT/THE MERIDIAN STAR
By Ryan Satcher / staff writer
October 17, 2002
The Northeast Lauderdale Lady Trojans picked a perfect time to start playing great softball.
Northeast played two very good games on Wednesday afternoon and came away with 7-1 and 13-3 wins over visiting Lawrence County in a Class 4A first-round playoff series.
With the two wins, the Lady Trojans advance to play at Poplarville on Saturday in a second-round best-of-three series. The two teams will play three games on Saturday if necessary.
Northeast 7
Lawrence Co. 1
The Lady Trojans used solid defense and timely hitting to take a 7-1 victory in the opener to go up 1-0 in the best-of-three series.
The Lady Cougars jumped ahead in the first inning on a two-out double by Stacy Smith. Emily Smith came around to score to give Lawrence County a 1-0 lead.
Northeast answered with a run in the second. Jana Olczak singled and Danielle McCoy reached on a fielder's choice. McCoy moved to third on a single by Capri Norris and scored on a single by Kara Hull.
The Lady Trojans also scored a run in the third to take a 2-1 lead. Olczak singled in Raleigh Odom with two outs in the inning.
Northeast blew the game open with three runs in the fourth inning. Blair Rawson singled. After two fielder's choices, Shelley Odom singled. Raleigh Odom followed with a triple to right to bring in two runs. Lauren Webb brought Raleigh in with a single to give the Lady Trojans a 5-1 lead.
Northeast scored two more insurance runs in the fifth inning to stretch the lead. Olczak reached on an error and scored on a single by McCoy. Rawson brought McCoy in with a single to give Northeast a 7-1 lead.
Lawrence County threatened in the seventh inning by loading the bases, but a fielder's choice closed out the inning and gave Northeast a 7-1 victory.
Northeast 13
Lawrence County 3
The Lady Trojans scored eight runs in the fourth inning to blow open a close game and finished off the series with a 13-3 run-rule victory.
Northeast was the visiting team on the scoreboard in the second game and scored two runs in the top of the first inning. Raleigh Odom reached on an error and scored on a triple by Webb. Amber Gray doubled to bring in Webb to make the score 2-0.
The Lady Cougars answered with a run in the bottom of the first. Allie Williamson started the inning with a single. Heather Sanders also singled and Stacy Smith brought in Williamson with a slow roller that got by the pitcher for an infield hit.
Northeast scored three runs in the third inning to expand its lead. Hull singled to start the inning. Shelley Odom reached on a throwing error. Raleigh Odom followed with a sacrifice fly to make the score 3-1. After a fielder's choice and a walk, Gray came through with another double to bring in two runs and make the score 5-1.
Lawrence County cut into the lead with two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Sanders and Emily Smith singled with one out in the inning. Stacy Smith brought in a run with a single and Breigh Ann Dawsey followed with an RBI single to make the score 5-1 after three innings.
The Lady Trojans put the game away with an eight-run fourth inning. Rawson and Norris reached base when outfielders dropped both of their fly balls. Hull followed with an infield hit. Shelley Odom brought in two runs with a single and Raleigh Odom followed with an RBI single to make the score 8-3.
After Webb walked, Jayme Gardner singled to bring in two more runs. Gray again ripped the softball and ended up on third with a two-run triple to make the score 12-3. Olczak singled to bring in Gray to make the score 13-3.
Lawrence County nearly forced the game into a sixth inning. Emily Smith singled and Stacy Smith followed with a rip off the fence. Northeast did a great job of getting the ball in and threw out Emily in a close play at the plate. Stacy was stranded at third on a ground out and the Lady Trojans took the 13-3 run-rule win to advance to the second round of the playoffs.