ELLISVILLE – Playing for the NJCAA Region 23 Championship on Monday at Community Bank Park/Gwen Magee Field, Co-Lin rallied with a seven-run sixth to defeat Jones 9-5 and then hit seven home runs in the if-necessary game to capture the region title with a 9-2 victory.
It was the first two home losses of the season for Jones (46-8) who also had a 25-game win streak snapped.
Co-Lin (43-9) won the Gulf A District and Jones won the Gulf B District as both teams advance to the Division II World Series in Spartanburg, South Carolina, May 23-27.
It will be Jones' eighth trip to the World Series in the last 11 seasons. They won it in 2018 and have finished runner-up four times.
Co-Lin 9, Jones 5
Needing six outs to win the region championship and go unbeaten in the tournament, Jones surrendered a seven-run sixth inning as the Wolves rallied to shock the Bobcats and force a deciding game.
Jones plated four in the fifth -- all with two outs -- to take a 5-2 lead.
Gabby Hoffman delivered a two-run single up the middle and
Landry Dupont would reach on an error that scored two more.
The Co-Lin rally started with a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth to Belle West and they'd follow with three doubles and three singles to erase a three-run deficit and take a four-run lead. Josie Meggs' infield single tied the game before pinch hitter Lizzy Hollingsworth delivered the go-ahead RBIs on a two-run single to left-center.
Jones got a leadoff single in the seventh but grounded into a double play and popped up to end the game.
West tossed 2.1 scoreless in relief to get the win for the Wolves in relief of Lila Blackburn.
Nia Luckett (13-3) allowed six runs on seven hits and walked four in the loss.
Meg Vinson tossed the final 0.2 innings in relief and allowed three runs on three hits.
Co-Lin 9, Jones 2
The Wolves hit seven home runs, two apiece from Maddie Weeks and Abby Grace Richardson, to rout the Bobcats for the region title.
Weeks and West homered in the first as Co-Lin jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one.
They would follow with solo homers in the third, fourth and two in the fifth to make it 7-0.
Aaliyah Dixon broke the shutout with a two-run blast of her own in the fifth for the Bobcats.
Madison Moak then hit a two-run homer to center in the sixth to put the finishing touches on an emphatic win.
Luckett and Dixon had the lone two hits for Jones as they were out-hit 13-2.
Holly Craft (17-2) surrendered seven runs on eight hits and allowed six home runs to take her first loss since her second start of the season.
Belle West went the distance for Co-Lin and picked up both wins on the day.
