POPLARVILLE, Miss. — No. 7 Pearl River softball made a statement Saturday afternoon, knocking off a pair of NJCAA Division I opponents to finish the Visit Panama City Beach JUCO Showdown 4-0.
The Wildcats defeated No. 12 Chattanooga State 8-2 before winning an 8-7 slugfest against No. 5 Wallace State – Hanceville.
"I am super proud of them," head coach Christie Meeks said. "We saw some things out of them today that we've been waiting to see for a while. Our dugout was electric; our team was electric — I'm just so proud.
"We had a conversation this past week and made a few adjustments in our lineup. We have these great hitters and putting them in the right places in our lineup is important. I'm proud of what we did at the plate. Coach K (Katelyn Gruich) continued to create chaos on the offensive side of things."
NO. 7 PEARL RIVER 8, NO. 12 CHATTANOOGA STATE 2.
Behind a dominant outing from freshman Teegan DeWitt (Pass Christian; Hancock), Pearl River (7-1 overall) rolled past Chattanooga State (4-1), 8-2.
DeWitt set the tone immediately, throwing 12 pitches — 11 for strikes — with three strikeouts in the first inning. Pearl River gave her an early lead in the second when Jaycee Holifield (Laurel; Stringer) crushed an 0-1 pitch over the wall for her fourth homer of the season, 1-0.
DeWitt continued to overwhelm the Tigers, striking out six straight batters and pushing her total to eight through three innings. She reached double-digit strikeouts in the fourth, fanning two more around a flyout.
The Wildcats broke the game open in the fifth. Zion Seals (Shannon; Nettleton) reached on an error and Anastasia Acree (Mobile, Ala.; Alma Bryant) singled before both moved into scoring position on stolen bases. Kai Goodman (New Orleans, La.; John Curtis) drove in a run with an opposite-field single to make it 2-0. Two batters later, Natalee Eaves (Louisville; Choctaw Central) launched a three-run homer to extend the lead to 5-0.
A walk and a two-run homer ended DeWitt's bid for a perfect game in the fifth, cutting the margin to 5-2. Pearl River answered immediately in the sixth as Holifield reached on an error and pinch runner Erin Meadows (Leakesville; Greene County) scored on a Taylor Foster (Petal) single, 6-2.
The Wildcats tacked on two more runs in the seventh on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly from Maeli Ben (Conehatta; Newton County), pushing the lead to 8-2.
DeWitt faced the minimum in the seventh, striking out two and inducing a flyout to close out the win. She finished with a complete game, allowing two runs on one hit and two walks while striking out 15.
"She has really had a different mentality and focus the last couple of weeks," Meeks said. "She was locked in from pitch one until the very last pitch. She was absolutely on fire in game one."
Eaves went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Goodman finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, a run and two stolen bases.
NO. 7 PEARL RIVER 8, NO. 5 WALLACE STATE – HANCEVILLE 7.
Pearl River closed the day with an 8-7 win over fifth-ranked Wallace State–Hanceville.
After Ana-Grace Garcia (Baton Rouge, La.; St. Joseph's) worked out of trouble in the first, the Wildcats struck in the bottom half. Addy Grace Alexander (Poplarville) reached on an error, Eaves singled and Maeli Ben delivered a two-out, two-run single to give PRCC a 2-0 lead.
Wallace State pushed across a run in the second, but PRCC answered in the bottom of the frame. Acree deposited a solo homer over the left-field wall to restore a two-run cushion, 3-1. Later in the inning, Eaves doubled home another run to extend the lead to 4-1.
Ann Elise Duncan (McComb; Brookhaven Academy) entered in relief in the second and worked around traffic to keep PRCC in front. After Alexander tripled in the fourth, she scored on Eaves' fifth RBI of the day, pushing the lead to 5-1.
Wallace State capitalized on a Wildcat miscue and a sacrifice fly to trim the deficit to 5-3, then added two more runs in the sixth to pull within one, 5-4. With two runners in scoring position, DeWitt entered and needed just two pitches to end the threat.
Pearl River responded with three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Alexander drove in a run before Shania Fondren (Batesville; South Panola) ripped a two-run double to make it 8-4.
Wallace State made one final push in the seventh. A leadoff homer cut the deficit to three before a flurry of baserunners made it a one-run game, 8-7. Garcia re-entered and induced a lineout and a grounder back to the circle to seal the victory.
Duncan earned the win, throwing 4 1/3 innings and allowing three runs (one earned) with seven strikeouts. Garcia re-entered the game to pick up the save.
"When Ana-Grace left the game in the first inning, I told her to stay hot because there was a good chance she would go back into the game," Meeks said. "She worked in the bullpen to fix some things, and when she went back into the game in the last inning, she was just tough."
Eaves went a perfect 4-for-4 with two RBIs and finished the day 7-for-8 with five RBIs.
"She was unbelievable today," Meeks said. "On and off the field, she constantly shows why she is our captain. You can't ask for more out of Nat."
Alexander, Holifield and Acree each had two hits, while Fondren and Ben drove in two runs apiece.
NEXT UP
The Wildcats are back in action Saturday for a 3:30/6 p.m. showdown with Jefferson College and LSU Eunice in Eunice, La.
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