ELLISVILLE – Coaching his final regular season conference games at Community Bank Park/Gwen Magee Field Tuesday night, future Hall of Famer
Chris Robinson will have the ending etched in his mind for a long time.
Jones walked-off Northwest twice, 10-2 in five innings and 4-3, to claim its 13th MACCC Championship and the eighth under Robinson in his 14 seasons.
"It was a tremendous effort by our kids," Robinson said. "They knew the opportunity they had tonight to sweep and win it all. The work put in by our team and coaching staff all season long culminated with this moment in brining this championship back to Ellisville."
Jones needed a sweep Tuesday night or some help between Copiah-Lincoln/Itawamba to win the league outright.
It turns out they didn't need any help.
The Bobcats ran their winning streak out to 21 games to edge Co-Lin by one game to win the MACCC at 26-2. The only blemish a sweep in Wesson back on March 21.
They haven't lost since.
Jones 10, Northwest 2 (5 inn.)
Gabby Hoffman hit a three-run homer in the second,
Aaliyah Dixon hit a bases-clearing triple in the fifth and
Nia Luckett tossed a complete-game four-hitter in a game one win.
KK Polk hit a solo shot to cut the deficit to 3-1 in the third, but the Bobcats responded with another three-spot in the bottom half to stretch the lead back out 6-1.
Meg Gatlin singled to score
Kathryn Smith,
Elise Jackson drew a bases-loaded walk and
Landry Dupont scored on a wild pitch.
Leading 6-2 going to the bottom of the fifth, three walks loaded the bases with one out when Dixon came to the plate. She roped a bases-clearing triple to center and scored on a bad throw to plate the walk-off run.
Gatlin was 2-for-2 and
Carly Lewis was 2-for-3. Dixon and Hoffman had three RBIs apiece.
Jones 4, Northwest 3
Trailing 3-0 in the third, Jones scored four unanswered runs and would once again capitalize off a Ranger error to walk-off the nightcap.
Kara Johnson hit a three-run homer to left to put the Rangers on top for the first time of the day, 3-0, in the top of the third.
But Jones immediately got two runs back on Lewis' RBI-double to right and would tie it at 3-3 in the fifth on Dixon's RBI-single.
Elise Jackson singled, stole second and advanced to third on an error to put the winning run 60 feet away in the bottom of the seventh. Luckett then slapped a ball to the left side that was fielded cleanly, but after Jackson got in a rundown between third and home, the Ranger catcher threw it in the outfield that allowed Jackson to scurry home for the win.
Holly Craft allowed just two hits and the home run, but struck out eight in seven innings to push her record to 15-1.
Jones now turns its attention to the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament May 9-14 at The Bank. The top two remaining teams both advance to the NJCAA Division II World Series in Spartanburg, S.C.
