Softball | 5/8/2017 2:39:00 AM
ELLISVILLE – It's getting to be a habit for the Jones County Junior College women's softball team.
Karli Perque (Westwego, Louisiana) caught a line drive and doubled off a Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College runner at first base to complete a double play and end the game to give No. 1 JCJC a 4-2 victory in the championship game of the MACJC Tournament here on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Community Bank Park.
It was JCJC's second straight title and their fifth MACJC crown in six years.
"This was a well-played softball game by two very good teams," said JCJC head coach
Chris Robinson. "Anytime you can win a state championship, it's wonderful. I'm so very proud of our kids, our program and our coaches.
"I am so very happy for our kids because they have had the target on their backs all season. They've embraced it and we finished the deal this week."
JCJC trailed 2-0 entering the fourth inning when two Bobcat pinch-hitters came through bigtime.
Callie Venable (Clinton, Louisiana) had a pinch-hit, two-run double that tied the game and
Bailey Gilbert (Sylva-Bay Academy) followed with a pinch-hit single that gave JCJC a 3-2 lead.
"We had some fantastic at-bats in this game with Callie coming off the bench and getting a double and Bailey, the next batter, gets a run-scoring hit," Robinson said. "Natalie (Hogue) had a big double to score Emily (Robinson). There were not an awful lot of hits, but there were some hits that mattered. We started out hitting a lot of balls right at them early on."
Venable had a pinch-hit in each of JCJC's three wins in the tournament and finished with four RBIs.
"Callie did this the whole tournament for us with the pinch-hits," Robinson said. "Bailey had not had a whole lot of at-bats, but she comes up with a big pinch-hit for us. That's what wins games for you. In championship games, it's the whole roster from top to bottom. Everybody contributed today."
JCJC, 47-2, will now turn its attention to the Region 23 Tournament, which they will host May 11-13.
No. 7 MGCCC, 39-12, meets No. 4 LSU-Eunice, 42-10, at 4 p.m. on Thursday, while the Lady Bobcats meet No. 6 Itawamba, 39-12, at 6 p.m. The event continues through Saturday with the top two teams advancing to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament May 17-20 at Traceway Park in Clinton.
"We told our kids that good teams find a way to do good in the next tournament after they win a championship," Robinson said. "We've got some work to do, but we are going to enjoy this for the next day or so. But we will come back to work Tuesday afternoon and get ready for the regional tournament."
MGCCC took a 2-0 lead in the second inning.
Molly Murphy led off with a single and was retired when Aidan Nichols reached on a fielder's choice. Nichols was out when Kristen Sexton reached on a fielder's choice. After Precious Sanders was hit by a pitch, Camrey Griffith reached on an infield single to load the bases.
Leadoff batter Brittney Triplett then singled to right to score two runs.
The Lady Bobcats would take a 3-2 in the fourth inning, utilizing those pinch hits.
Brittany Baty (Northeast Lauderdale) led off with a single to left and
Emily Robinson (Lafayette) blooped a single to left.
After a flyout, Venable got her third pinch-hit of the tournament – a two-run double into the rightfield corner, which tied the game at 2-2.
Gilbert then came through with a solid RBI single to left to give Jones a 3-2 lead.
The Lady Bobcats added a run in the fifth when with two outs, Robinson reached on an infield hit and scored on
Natalie Hogue's (Harrison Central) second double of the day.
MGCCC got two hits in the sixth inning, but a runner was caught stealing.
In the seventh, Griffith reached on a one-out walk, but Triplett lined out to Perque, who threw to Baty to double off the runner.
Perque allowed two runs, seven hits, walked one and struck out five as she improved to 18-0.
Robinson was impressed with the way Perque came back after allowing two runs in the second inning.
"They hit a couple of balls well early, but I thought Karli settled down," he said. "Anytime you get in this kind of atmosphere where we had great crowds all weekend, it's easy to get the adrenaline going. You may throw it harder than usual and it may not move as much. But I thought she did a really good job of settling down.
"They put some good swings on some good pitches in the second inning and really punched us in the mouth. But I was glad to see our kids battle back."
Hogue doubled twice and Robinson singled twice.
Kelsha Loftin (Mendenhall) tripled, Venable doubled and
Kelly Byrd (Copiah Academy), Baty and Gilbert each singled.
Nichols went the distance and took the loss. She allowed four runs, nine hits, walked four and struck out one.
Triplett singled twice for the Lady Bulldogs, while Lexie Mathis, Izzy Werdann, Murphy, Nichols and Griffith added singles.
Robinson said winning the tournament took a great effort by the Lady Bobcats, especially in Sunday's contest.
"Hats off to Aidan Nichols. She threw a great game," he said. "It's a fantastic program over there. This is a great rivalry. We know we are going to get their best shot and they know they are going to get our best shot. You hate somebody will lose this game, but that's the way this whole tournament was.
"You had four of the top eight team in the nation here. It's a shame somebody will not advance to next week."
With East Central being eliminated this weekend and LSU-Eunice coming into the regional, this week's tournament will now feature four of the top seven teams in the nation.
MACJC Tournament
Sunday's game
Jones County 4, Miss. Gulf Coast 2
Miss. Gulf Coast (39-12) 020 000 0 – 2 7 0
Jones County (47-2) 000 310 x – 4 9 0
Aidan Nichols and Izzy Werdann.
Karli Perque and
Natalie Hogue.
WP-Perque (18-0).
LP-Nichols.
MGCCC hitters: Brittney Triplett 2 1B; Lexie Mathis 1B; Izzy Werdann 1B; Molly Murphy 1B; Aidan Nichols 1B; Camrey Griffith 1B.
JCJC hitters: Natalie Hogue 2 2B;
Emily Robinson 2 1B;
Kelsha Loftin 3B;
Callie Venable 2B;
Kelly Byrd 1B;
Brittany Baty 1B;
Bailey Gilbert 1B.
LOB: MGCCC-5; JCJC-6.
T-1:50.
MACJC Tournament
Ellisville
Community Bank Park
Friday's results
Game 1, Mississippi Gulf Coast 7, Itawamba 6
Game 2, Jones County 9, East Central 0 (5 innings)
Saturday's results
Game 3, Jones County 10, Mississippi Gulf Coast 2 (6 innings)
Game 4, Itawamba 4, East Central 2
Game 5, Mississippi Gulf Coast 3, Itawamba 2 (8 innings)
Sunday's games
Game 6, Jones County 4, Mississippi Gulf Coast 2
JCJC wins second straight MACJC title
