ACCS upsets Amite

Published 8:35 am Friday, April 6, 2007

The Amite School Center Lady Rebels are no longer undefeated. And neither is pitcher Candy Swims. The ACCS Lady Rebels made sure of that.

ACCS scored eight runs in the top of the seventh inning and held on for a stunning 21-18 win over Amite School Center on the road Thursday night.

“It was a dogfight from beginning to end. It was more of an offensive game,” ACCS head coach Rick Fife said. “Twenty-seven hits, that’s a lot for any type of game. I thought we hit the ball well.”

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ACCS (5-3) scored their 21 runs on an astounding 27 hits. The 21 runs and 27 hits are the most runs and hits that Amite School Center has given up in a single game this season.

The visiting Lady Rebels got off to a good start with four runs in the top of the first inning, but the host Lady Rebels scored eight runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 9-5 lead.

The top of the fourth inning proved to be a turning point for ACCS. Instead of giving up, the Lady Rebels answered with seven runs to retake the lead at 12-9.

“We could have folded the tent, but we kept battling,” Fife said. “I think that showed some maturity in our team. We scored several runs with two outs, especially in the fourth. Four of those (seven) runs were with two outs. That was a big inning.”

Amite School Center (8-1) responded with six runs in the bottom of the fourth and one in the bottom of the fifth to take a 16-12 lead. But ACCS rallied with one run in the top of the sixth and eight in the top of the seventh for a 21-16 lead.

Fife credits his players for being patient at the plate against Swims as another key to the big win for ACCS.

“The last time we played them, she made us hit her pitch. Tonight, we were hitting our pitch,” Fife said. “We got some key hits in key situations, especially in the seventh.”

In its last attempted rally, Amite School Center was held to just two runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Jena 3, Vidalia 2

JENA, La. — Jeannie Joy doubled to bring in Sha-Sha Hunter with what proved to be the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Lady Giants held off the Lady Vikings Thursday afternoon.

Even though Vidalia committed four errors, it wasn’t the errors that caused the Lady Vikings to lose this game. It was the inability to bring in runners and Hunter getting on first with a walk to lead off the bottom of the sixth.

“We had lots of people on base, but we never could get the key hits when we needed them,” Vidalia head coach Jeannie Hall said. “We just left too many runners on base.”

Vidalia (18-10-1) ended up having runners stranded on base in every inning except the second inning, Hall noted.

After Jena took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth, Vidalia’s offense finally got going against Lady Giants pitcher Amber Lanier, who had dominated the Lady Vikings through the first five innings.

“We were down 2-0 in the sixth and I did a squeeze play,” Hall said. “(Brittany) Whittington laid down a bunt to score Mallory Guidroz and then Katlyn Wilson hit a double and scored Tori Lemoine.”

But Lanier didn’t let what happened in the top of the sixth bother her as she pitched a scoreless seventh inning to preserve Jena’s win.

Both Lanier for Jena and Whittington for Vidalia had solid performances on the mound. Each pitcher went the distance and allowed just three hits.

Block 9, Montgomery 5

JONESVILLE — Forty-eight hours after Kayla Lacroix was the winning pitcher for Montgomery and Misty Davis took the loss for Block, the roles were reversed as the Lady Bears defeated the Lady Tigers in a District 3-1A game.

Block (12-11, 5-3) came out more aggressive Thursday afternoon as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead after three innings and held on for the 9-5 win. The Lady Bears scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning and then in the bottom of the third.

Davis hit a run-scoring double for Block in the first inning. Then in the bottom of the third, Ashley Kirby hit a two-run home run, Mika Bennett followed with a triple and scored on an RBI groundout by Sarah McEntyre.

Every time the Lady Tigers tried to get back in the game, the Lady Bears responded. Lacroix gave the Lady Tigers some hope in the top of the seventh with a two-run home run, but it wasn’t enough.

Kirby went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and Bennett was also 3-for-4 for Block, which got 13 hits off Lacroix. Jada Davis and Lacroix each were 2-for-4 for Montgomery (3-3 in District 3-1A).