Published: October 15, 2008 05:25 pm            

Lady Cougars eye another title

NEWTON — Halfway there.

The Newton County Lady Cougars swept Class 3A playoff series with North Pike and Richland last week to reach the halfway mark of the slowpitch playoffs unscathed.

The Lady Cougars opened with a 15-1, 15-1 sweep of North Pike at Decatur, then claimed an 11-0, 4-3 second-round road sweep of Richland.

The Lady Cougars, 23-5, hosted Southeast Lauderdale, 19-7, for the South State championship series Tuesday. That winner advances to take on the Louisville (25-4)-North Pontotoc (23-6) winner for the Class 3A state championship Saturday at the V.A. Fields in Jackson.

“I tell our girls when we start the playoffs that we’re eight wins away (from a state championship),” said Newton County head coach Justin Chaney.

“We’re halfway there now. To go over to Richland in a pretty tough environment and take care of business, I was extremely proud, especially after putting coach (Dustin) McGee under the circumstances a little bit. He took the team and handled them well.”

Chaney was unable to make the Richland series due to medical problems involving his wife, Tabitha, who was pregnant with their second child.



Newton County 15-15,

North Pike 1-1

The Lady Cougars improved to 21-5 as they swept North Pike in first-round action at Decatur on October 7.

“We hit the ball good in spurts, but we’re not hitting consistently with runners on base,” Newton County head coach Justin Chaney said.

Junior pitcher Wendy McCracken led Newton County as she went 6-for-7 with five RBI. She got both wins, upping her record to 20-5. She allowed nine hits in the two games.

“She had been about 0-for-10 and Sunday afternoon we hit and she was up here in that batting cage about an hour working on it and that work paid off,”

Chaney said. “To be a junior and never have played, she’s gotten remarkably better every game. She’s 20-5 pitching and never pitched before in her life and to go 6-for-7 tonight in the playoffs, I’m tickled to death for her. She deserves it.”

In the opener, Newton County scored five runs off just two hits in the first inning with three walks and two errors leading to the big inning. Summer Alexander had a leadoff triple.

A 10-run fourth frame broke the game open. Samantha Cooley had a two-run single, Alexander had a two-run triple, McCracken had an RBI double, and Shelby Bishop and Brandi Palmer had RBI singles.

Newton County had 13 hits with Alexander getting two triples and a single to drive in a pair of runs. Catherine Brand had a single and a double, Brooke Boulton had two singles, and McCracken had a single and a double. Bishop and Nikki Cumberland both had two RBI. Emily Davis and Katie Brackeen both had a single.

North Pike had five hits, all of which were singles. Shelby Abdul-Hadi took the loss. Rachel Kelly’s sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth plated the Lady Jaguars’ only run.

In the second game, Newton County padded a 4-0 lead with six runs in the top of the third. McCracken tripled home three runs when her hit skipped past the right-center fielder. Bishop had an RBI single, Brand drove in a run with a triple, and Davis had a sacrifice fly.

The Lady Cougars added five more runs in the fifth with Boulton getting a two-run double.

Newton County had 14 hits with McCracken getting three singles, a triple, and four RBI. Brand had two singles and a triple, Brackeen had three singles, and Bishop had two singles. Davis and Cumberland both had a single.

North Pike had four hits, three of which came in the bottom of the fifth.

Hali Sasser took the loss. McKenzie Brock had an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth.

North Pike finished 11-15.



Newton County 11-4,

Richland 0-3

The Lady Cougars cruised to an 11-0 win in Saturday’s opener, then held off the Lady Rangers 4-3 to complete the sweep at Richland.

In the opener, Newton County scored four runs in the first inning, two in the second, and five in the fifth.

Newton County had 13 hits. Brooke Boulton drove in three runs with a double and a triple. Emily Davis had two singles and two RBI. Katie Brackeen had a triple with Kasie Buckley getting a pair of singles. Erin Thornton, Summer Alexander, Catherine Brand, Nikki Cumberland, and Wendy McCracken each had a single.

McCracken (21-5) got the win.

Jordan Rimes took the loss for Richland. The Lady Rangers had five hits.

In the second game, Newton County erased a 2-0 deficit with two runs in the bottom of the third inning. The Lady Cougars snapped a 3-3 tie with a run in the bottom of the sixth.

Newton County, 23-5, had 10 hits with Brand getting a pair of singles. Davis had a single and two RBI. Alexander, Boulton, Cumberland, McCracken, Buckley, Shelby Bishop, and Erin Thornton each had one single.

McCracken (22-5) got the win.

Richland, 15-13, had seven hits.

        

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