Freshman catcher Anna McNeer hit a pair of home runs and drove in six runs to help the East Central Community College softball team split a pair of games Monday, Feb. 25, in Ellisville.
The ECCC Lady Warriors scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and five more in the sixth to run-rule the East Mississippi Lady Lions 12-4 in the nightcap, bouncing back from a 17-7 loss earlier in the day to the No. 1 ranked and defending national champion Jones College Lady Bobcats.
The games were played at Community Bank Park on the Jones College campus in Ellisville. East Central arranged the two games in Ellisville after all five games it was scheduled to play in the Rush Invitational in Meridian Feb. 22-23 were rained out.
The Lady Warriors had not played since going 2-1 in the Northeast TigerFest back on Feb. 15 in Booneville.
East Central got an early lead against East Mississippi with three runs in the bottom of the first on a double by Olivia Houston out of Northwest Rankin and a two-run homer from McNeer, who prepped at Canton Academy.
Trailing 4-3 heading to the bottom of the fifth inning, the Lady Warriors scored the next nine runs of the game. In the fifth, sophomore shortstop Annika Jones of Leake Academy drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, freshman center fielder Parker Breland of Union doubled in a pair of runs, and freshman designated hitter Kailee Swindle (Hattiesburg, Presbyterian Christian School) also had an RBI double.
The big blow in the sixth was a three-run homer from freshman infielder MaKenzie Barnett of Neshoba Central that ended the game by run-rule.
Freshman pitcher Braelyn Boykin of Mize got the start and the win in the circle.
Against No. 1 Jones, East Central fell behind 17-0 after four innings before scoring seven runs in the fifth to make the final score 17-7. Four of those runs came on a McNeer grand slam. Freshman left fielder Kaylee Webb (Ruston, La., Ruston) had a two-run single.
For the day, McNeer finished four for seven at the plate with six RBI and four runs scored. Freshman third baseman Hannah Dufault out of East Central High School in Hurley had five hits, including two doubles, and Jones had a pair of doubles.
Jones College beat East Mississippi 18-5 in the final game of the day. East Central is now 3-2 on the season, while Jones is 4-2 and East Mississippi starts the season 0-2.
East Central will face Hinds Community College in a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 27, in Raymond.
The Lady Warriors are scheduled to play three games Friday, March 1, in the Coastal Alabama Spring Invitational in Atmore, Ala. East Central will play Southern Union State Community College (Ala.) at 9 a.m., Pensacola State College (Fla.) at 1:30 p.m., and Coastal Alabama-South at 3:45 p.m.
The first home doubleheader of the season is Monday, March 4, when Lansing Community College (Mich.) visits the Softball Complex in Decatur for a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m.