It was all right there for Sumrall, a chance to grab a lead in a championship series.
But the Bobcats, making their first appearance in the MHSAA Class 4A Softball State Championships, weren’t up to the moment, dropping Game 1 of the best-of-three series against Kosciusko 9-7 Tuesday night at the Southern Miss Softball Complex.
Sumrall (26-8) must win Game 2 at 3 p.m. Wednesday to keep its season alive and force a deciding third game on Saturday. The Whippets (31-3-1) can clinch their second consecutive 4A state title with a victory.
“This is a game we should have won,” Sumrall coach Dodie Robertson said. “We gave it away. If you had said before the game that we’d get seven runs and 11 hits off this team and lose, I’d have said you were crazy.”
But that was the reality for the Bobcats, who committed four errors that contributed to seven unearned runs for Kosciusko.
Most of them came in a disastrous top of the fifth inning, when the Whippets scored six runs – all after two were out – to take the lead for good in what had been a back-and-forth game.
“We made more errors tonight, I think, than any game we’ve played all season,” Robertson said. “Our middle infielders haven’t made errors all year long. So, I don’t know.
“We were very nervous at the start, because the moment was big for us with it our first time to be here. But the nerves are gone now. They’ve seen what it is and that they can compete at this level.”
While nerves may have played a role, Sumrall came out completely unfazed by Kosciusko and its formidable reputation, battling the defending state champs in two hours and 15 minutes of tense, nerve-wracking softball.
The Whippets grabbed the early lead in the top of the first, when freshman Makynlee Dickerson was hit by a pitch from Sumrall sophomore right-hander Ashlyn Buckhalter. Dickerson stole second and scored on junior Campbell Blaine’s double into the gap in left-centerfield.
The Bobcats tied it up in the bottom of the second off Kosciusko sophomore right-hander Anna Grace Whitehead.
With one out, Burkhalter beat out an infield single, took third on a single by eighth-grader Ashton Stringfellow and scored on a single by freshman Brette Loftin.
“She had no spin, everything was straight fastballs,” Sumrall senior Anna Grace Shows said. “She was just fast and got some pitches past us. But if she was trying to put spin on the ball, it wasn’t working for her. We can hit this pitcher; I’m confident about that.”
Sumrall grabbed a 3-2 lead in the third, after Kosciusko regained the lead in the top of the inning.
Once again, Dickerson got it going for the Whippets, smacking the first pitch of the inning into centerfield for a single. She stole second again, took third on a deep flyball and scored on a groundout to shortstop.
Although Kosicusko came into the series with just 26 steals for the season, the Whippets stole four bases against the Bobcats, and they were all key.
Shows led off the go-ahead rally in the bottom of the third for Sumrall with an infield single and came all the way around from first to score on a double by junior Shaylee Ingram.
Whitehead got outs on the next two pitches, but Burkhalter singled to right, putting Sumrall ahead, and she took second on an error when the ball was misplayed.
“I went with the pitch, took it the other way,” Burkhalter said. “I kind of hesitated, then when it went through her legs, I kept running.”
The Bobcats added to their lead in the fourth on a two-out RBI single by Shows. However, Shows was thrown out at second trying to steal, and that was a bad omen for Sumrall.
With one out, freshman Mary Kimble Price doubled to left to start Kosciusko’s decisive rally in the fifth.
Burkhalter got the second out on a pop-up, but walked Blaine, then surrendered a single when junior Gracie Williams’ beat out a comebacker that caromed off Burkhalter’s glove to shortstop to load the bases.
And that’s when the wheels fell off.
An error at second allowed two runs to score, seniors Maicee Coleman and Elizabeth Jones each had run-scoring singles, then another error at shortstop led to a run, and Dickerson finished the rally with an RBI single.
Burkhalter (9-5) never did get the third out in the fifth, giving way to freshman right-hander Avery Smith amidst the Whippets’ uprising. Burkhalter only allowed two earned runs, struck out one and walked one.
“Avery had some big pitches for us tonight,” Robertson said. “She’s young, but she battles. I thought Ashlyn pitched well; we just didn’t play any defense behind her. That’s what got her in that hole.”
Although some of their earlier swagger was gone, the Bobcats picked themselves off the mat and gave themselves a chance to come back. Sumrall responded in the bottom of the fifth by shaving two runs off its deficit.
Ingram led off with a single up the middle, and an error off the bat of freshman Ella Robertson sent Ingram to second. Ingram stole third and scored on a groundout to shortstop. Burkhalter’s third single of the game made it 8-6.
Kosciusko increased its lead, though, in the sixth on another unearned run. A one-out walk, a steal and a two-out error in the infield made it 9-6.
Whitehead, who came into the series with 155 strikeouts for the season, recorded her only strikeout of the game to end a 1-2-3 sixth for Sumrall, but Smith likewise retired the Whippets in order in the top of the seventh.
Sumrall put two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh and one scored. With one out, sophomore Brandi Bond reached second on a throwing error – the Whippets had three miscues themselves – and moved to third on Burkhalter’s fourth hit of the game.
A groundout got the run home, and Loftin, with the tying run, battled through an 11-pitch at-bat before Whitehead got her on a groundout to the circle.
Whitehead improved her record to 22-1, but Robertson was, and is, confident the Bobcats can have success against her.
“We can hit this pitcher,” Robertson said. “We had 11 hits and we squared up a lot of balls that were flyball outs.
“This is a great group. They’re not intimidated. They have a lot of confidence that they need to come out here and win. We’re not down; we’re ready to go. They’ve seen they can play with this team, and I have faith that we’ll come back.”
Although their backs are against the wall, Sumrall has been in this situation before in these playoffs. The Bobcats lost their first game of the playoffs at home to Greene County in the second round, then had to win a Game 3 at North Pike to get to the finals.
“We were ready to play tonight,” Burkhalter said. “We know we can beat them. Even though they’ve won state championships, we think we’re a better team. Hopefully, we’ll come out and win.”
