HATTIESBURG – Things started badly for Lafayette on Tuesday afternoon and never got any better.
The Commodores fell behind quickly and could never recover in a 10-3 loss to East Central in Game 1 of the Class 5A state championship series at the Southern Miss Softball Complex.
Game 2 will be at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Lafayette (25-8), playing in its first state finals in program history, fell behind 4-0 in the first inning as starting pitcher Mabry Eason was chased before she could get a third out. This game was played less than 24 hours after each team closed out their respective semifinal series.
“I think another four-hour trip got us,” Lafayette coach Greg Lewis said. “We just got off the bus and couldn’t swing it well. Give credit to them – their pitcher did a good job, they did a good job.”
The Hornets (30-6) finished with a dozen hits. Five of those came in the fourth, when they plated five runs to open up a 9-1 lead. Abbie Huff smashed a bases-loaded triple to highlight the frame.
Valerie Merrill led East Central with three hits.
Meanwhile, Abigail Danis didn’t let the Commodores get going offensively. Over seven innings, the junior allowed seven hits with four strikeouts and two walks. Lafayette was able to cut it to 4-1 in the first inning on Sydney Cregar’s RBI double, but Danis gave up just one hit over the next three innings as East Central added to its lead.
“The velo ain’t something that will impress you, but she misses barrels a lot, and she spins the ball really good, and she hits her spots,” Hornets coach Gerald Edmonson said of Danis.
The Dores started swinging the bats better in the later innings. Eason smashed a two-run homer to make it 9-3, and four of the team’s seven hits came over the final three frames. There were also several hard-hit outs.
“You could tell, same thing that happened to us at New Hope (in the semifinals). First four innings, we were foggy. After that we started swinging it better. I think we can come back out here and compete with them,” Lewis said.
Extra Bases
Big Inning: East Central had five hits in the first, including a two-run single by Merrill to make it 4-0.
Big Stat: Lafayette used three pitchers.
Coach Speak: “It wasn’t that her stuff wasn’t that good, they just started finding the holes early, and that makes a difference every time.” – Lewis, on Eason’s pitching