Southwest's softball team hosted No. 6 Jones on Tuesday in a doubleheader, and the Lady Bears dropped Game One, 2-1, but bounced back to win Game Two by a 17-9 run-rule.
“The fight in this group is phenomenal, and what I was impressed with once again was they didn't drop their heads,” head coach Shea Johnson said. “Hats off to Jones, but I felt like our kids rose to the occasion. This is our first time facing a ranked opponent… I think it’s a big accomplishment for our kids.”
Allie Ladnier pitched the entirety of Game One for SMCC in a hard-fought pitching duel. Ladnier pitched seven innings with four strikeouts and only two runs allowed.
There were only eight total hits in the game between the teams, with Southwest accounting for three of them.
Ladnier, Alexis Dejean and North Pike alum Kate Clements had a hit each.
The lone Southwest run came when Corin Talbot scored from third base on a passed ball at the plate.
But Game Two was a completely different story.
Ballard Kraft started on the mound before being replaced by Mary Claire Salley. The pair combined for one strikeout in the first two innings.
Corin Talbot came in to finish the second in an attempt to stop the bleeding, as after finally getting out of the top frame, the Lady Bears trailed 7-2.
But during the bottom of the second inning, the Lady Bears roared back with eight runs to retake a lead that they would never give back.
Talbot would finish with one strikeout and one run allowed before Ladnier would take her place after pitching the entire first game.
Ladnier pitched the final three innings with one strikeout and only one hit and run allowed while picking up the save.
Talbot would go on to pick up the win for Southwest.
Jones opened up the game with a three-run first inning, but Southwest answered back quickly with two runs via a Dejean homer in the bottom of the first.
After putting up four more runs in the top of the second, Jones really began to pour the pressure onto the Lady Bears.
But the home side answered once again. With an astounding eight runs in the bottom of the second, Southwest fought back into the game.
An assortment of walks and hit-by-pitches helped two runs eventually score on a Talbot double.
A few at-bats later, and two more runs would score on a Clements single that cut the deficit to 7-6.
A bases-loaded walk to Jana Phillips tied the game before a Madalyn Ashford double cleared the bases for Southwest and put it up 10-7 over Jones.
Going into the fourth inning, the Lady Bears still led 10-8 when Tristan Allen hit a nuke to left field that moved the score to 11-8 in favor of the home team.
Leading 11-9 in the bottom of the fifth, the Lady Bears needed a few more insurance runs when Dejean hit her second homer of the day to make the score read 13-9.
After a Clements walk, Allen stepped back up to the plate and hit her second home run of the evening, pushing the score to 15-9.
Now in the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Bears had two runners on base after a Bailey McLin single and Talbot walk.
A Ladnier double scored McLin and moved Talbot to third base with a new score of 16-9.
Shortly after, a Dejean sacrifice fly scored Talbot to put the Lady Bears up 17-9 over Jones College and activate the run rule, ending the game.
The Lady Bears put up an impressive 17 hits to match their 17 runs and 17 RBIs.
Corin Talbot lead the team with three hits, two of them being doubles.
McLin, Ladnier, Dejean, Clements, Allen and Phillips all had two hits in Game Two. Ashford and Lauryn Roebuck both had a hit.
Dejean and Allen both had 2 home runs in the game.
Ladnier, Phillips, Clements and Ashford each had a double as well.
Dejean led the team with five RBIs. Allen and Ashford each followed with three of their own. Talbot and Clements each had two while Ladnier and Phillips both had one.
Ladnier also totaled 150 pitches between the two games.
“I mean, to score 17 runs against those pitches is really something that’s impressive. And they didn’t walk everybody. We did it by being disciplined at the plate. We did it on hits,” Johnson said. “And when your hits match your runs, you’re really effective.”
“I want to give them a shoutout too, those unsung heroes. Because those kids don’t always get an opportunity playing behind a great group of starters and they still work their butts off at practice," Johnson added. "Aubre Martin comes in and plays an inning while Corin warms up, and then Presleigh plays second while she’s in the circle. And nobody really sees those substitutions, but that’s the unselfish play of a team that does what they need to do."
The Lady Bears (19-5, 6-2) next go on the road to face Mississippi Delta on Thursday.
