EMCC Lions notch rain-delayed softball doubleheader split with Mississippi Delta

SCOOBA – In a weather-postponed softball doubleheader that ended up being played at two different sites because of additional rain during Friday's adjusted game day plans, the Lions of East Mississippi Community College split an MACCC twinbill with Mississippi Delta. EMCC opened the day with a 5-0 shutout win over Delta on the Scooba campus before steady rain prompted a move 50 miles south to Meridian Community College's turfed Tommy McDonald Field for an eight-inning nightcap won, 4-3, by the visiting Lady Trojans.

The opening game in Scooba was highlighted by Gail Wisher's third shutout of the season, as the Irvington, Ala. product faced just one Delta batter over the minimum in throwing a two-hitter. The sophomore only allowed a pair of singles to Zariah Wells in the fourth and seventh innings while striking out seven and not issuing a walk.

Offensively in the opener, the Lions' five runs came during the first four innings. Sasha King's two-out bloop RBI single in the first frame was followed by a three-run second inning that featured doubles by Brianna Byrd, Rachel Rommel and Gail Wisher along with a run-scoring single by Victoria Irby.

EMCC added another run two innings later when Rommel singled to open the fourth and later came around to score the Lions' fifth run of the game. Irby added a double in the frame.

The Lions' 12 hits were divided among eight different starters, led by Irby, Byrd, Rommel and Gail Wisher with two hits apiece.

Following an extended rain delay between games in Scooba and a subsequent trek to Meridian, EMCC and Delta played to a scoreless tie through the first four innings of the nightcap with freshmen Allee Bennett and Morgan Woods throwing for the respective teams.

After the Lions got on the board first in the fifth inning with Byrd's sacrifice bunt that scored Savannah Fralix, who had singled to open the frame, the Lady Trojans answered the next inning with a pair of runs off reliever Sara Frances Ramsay to take their first lead of the day. Adriyana Ruffin and Tashika Carothers had run-scoring, extra-base hits for Delta in the inning.

An EMCC two-out rally in the home half of the sixth inning knotted the score at 2-2 on Irby's game-tying RBI triple off the right fielder's outstretched glove that plated Gail Wisher.

Following a scoreless seventh inning, MDCC reclaimed the advantage on Carothers' two-run blast over the left field fence off Fralix in the top of the extra frame. The Lions rallied again in the bottom half of the frame, but Irby's RBI groundout was the only run they could produce in the inning.

Fralix led EMCC's offense in the second game with a pair of singles.

Still battling for a possible playoff spot in the upcoming 10-team NJCAA Region 23 Softball Tournament, head coach Mackenzie Byrd's EMCC Lions (13-25, 9-17 MACCC) will conclude their regular-season softball slate by playing host to the Bears of Southwest Mississippi in a Monday doubleheader (April 28) on the Scooba campus. First pitch for Monday's regular-season finale is set for 2 p.m. at the EMCC Softball Field.