Options are simple in the state slowpitch softball playoffs.

Options are simple in the state slowpitch softball playoffs.Winner of each best-of-three series advances to next week’s secondround. Losers hang it up.

Division champions host the opening round series. In LincolnCounty, Division 6-2A champion Loyd Star is hosting Morton at 5p.m. Saturday and Division 7-1A champion Enterprise is hostingSebastopol at 2.

West Lincoln, runner-up to Enterprise, travels to Division 6-1Achampion Puckett tomorrow. Neighboring Lawrence County, theDivision 7-4A champ, hosts Oak Grove, starting at 5 p.m.

State playoff second round action is Tuesday, Oct. 17, at sitesyet to be determined. State tournament finals are Oct. 20-21 atShiloh Park in Brandon.

Enterprise (18-6, 7-1) is under the directionof Coach Steve Sasser. Jill Nations serves as assistant coach on ayoung team that features no seniors and just two juniors.

Offensively, the Lady Jackets bat .361. Junior left-centerfielder Lacey Palomarez leads the team with a .500 batting average,including 15 home runs. Sophomore third baseman Stacy Sandifer bats.387 and has 2 homers.

Other Enterprise starters and their batting averages are secondbaseman Nichole Floyd, .373; leftfielder Nole Beard .373; shortstopAshley Palomarez, .366; pitcher Nikki Leggett, .346; rightfielderVivian Lang, .328; right-centerfielder Emily Smith, .333; catcherAshley Tate, .311 and first baseman Megan Criswsell, .295.

West Lincoln (13-11, 6-2), coached by Andrew Redd, isled in batting by leftfielder Hanna Roberts with a .515 average.Left-centerfielder Chastity Avants bats .471. Third basemanJennifer Richardson .460 with a team-best 4 homers.

Other leading hitters for the Lady Bears are shortstopDana King at .453, second baseman Lauren Smith .439, first basemanHolli Bass at .422, right-centerfielder Lyndsay Franklin at .356,catcher Rebecca Wallace at 333, extra hitter Brittnee Smith at.324, and Emily Richardson at .313.

The Lady Hornets (10-13, 5-3), coached by Lori Britt,host Morton (23-12), the Division 5 runner-up Saturday. Actionstarts at 1 p.m. There was a 3-way tie for first place in theDivision 6-2A race and Loyd Star won the tie-breaker. NatchezCathedral took second and Wesson was third.

Senior shortfielder Dana Coke leads the Lady Hornets in homerswith nine. Coke is batting .509. In the last 15 games she is26-for-37.

Also in the starting lineup at Loyd tar are Leah Smith in leftfield, Whitney Hedgepeth in center field, Samantha Smith in rightfield, Ashton Williams at first base, Rusti Jackson at second base,Beth Smith at shortstop, Nikki Hunsucker at third base, JamieThompson pitching and Heather Britt catching.

Beth Smith is batting .501 and Jackson is batting .466.

Lawrence County (18-5, 9-1) meets Oak Grove Saturday atMonticello in the Class 4A state playoffs. The first game begins at5 p.m.

Coached by Patsy Sandifer, the Lady Cougars dethroned3-time defending champion Brookhaven in the Division 6-4A race.This is Sandifer’s ninth year at the helm.

“We have been getting better every year,” said Sandifer.”Hopefully, we can keep hitting the ball well in theplayoffs.”

Stacy Smith and Brooke Nelson handle the pitching choresfor Lawrence County. The Lady Cougars have outscored their divisonopponents 146-25 in 10 games. They batted over .5700 as a team infive division games.

Leading hitters for Lawrence Count are Amanda Givens at.586, Ashley Autman at .550, Robbi Dampier at .549, JerricaBoutwell at .522 and Casey Ward at .508.

“We have a well-rounded team,” said Sandifer. “If we areon at the plate, we are tough to beat.”

Saturday’s Best-of-Three

State Softball Playoff Menu

CLASS 4A

Oak Grove at Lawrence County, 5 p.m.

CLASS 2A

Morton at Loyd Star, 5 p.m.

CLASS 1A

Sebastopol at Enterprise, 2 p.m.

West Lincoln at Puckett, 1 p.m.