Jones’ homer gets redemption, staves off elimination

PERKINSTON — After having made an error that could have cost Mississippi Gulf Coast a win, the softball gods put Kristian Jones right into the batter's box the next inning.

"My main thought was letting my teammates down," the freshman third baseman from Southaven said. "It was that I needed to play hard for them because I didn't want their season to end today. I went up there today and thought the least I could do was get a hit. It paid off."

She cranked a two-run home to launch a six-run explosion that propelled the Bulldogs past Kirkwood 8-2 in eight innings. Seventh-seeded Gulf Coast will play fifth-seed Highland in the consolation quarterfinals in a game scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday.

They did so without head coach Kenneth Long, who was at the hospital at the start of the game being treated for a kidney stone attack. They used a sensational game in the circle by Anna Avant (So., Water Valley/Water Valley) to get the win.

She struck out seven without allowing an earned run or a walk in a seven-hitter.

"It was sad," Avant said. "Before the game we prayed, and this is something we wanted to do for him. We just gave it all we had for him."

The Bulldogs had scored twice in the sixth to break a scoreless tie thanks to speed and smarts. Briana Shores (Briana Shores (So., Richland/Richland) hit a bases-loaded grounder to the third baseman, who decided to throw to first instead of home. That allowed Caroline Moore (So., Maryville, Tenn./Maryville) to score, and Rakeya Travis (So., Poplarville/Poplarville) kept running around third for a second run.

Kirkwood (54-12) put two on with two out in the seventh, when a grounder handcuffed Jones. Two runs scored to force extra innings.

Moore, who went 4-for-4, singled to lead off the eighth and bring up Jones. She went to school on the pitcher with a pair of foul balls.

"It was an inside pitch," said Jones, who went 3-for-4. "She threw two back-to-back. I fouled off one pretty hard, so I thought she would come back inside with it. It was a tight screwball, and I went with that."

Gulf Coast led 4-2, but the Bulldogs weren't through scoring. Sarah Brannan (So., Enterprise/Enterprise) came up with two outs and the bases loaded. She dumped a soft liner the center fielder dived for and missed.

When the ball got back to the infield, the Bulldogs led 7-2 with Brannan standing on third with her second hit of the game. Alexis Laughlin (So., Hurley/East Central) drove her in with a single for the final margin.

"It's another game we get to play with each other," Brannan said. "We've been on a good little run all season. We're talented, and we weren't ready to see it finish right here."

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