Brookhaven and Wesson played a 7-inning slowpitch softball warat the Brookhaven Sports Complex Thursday night. Both teamsexhibited rock solid defense throughout the evening.

It was a timely offensive hit by Lady Panther rightcenterfielder Devine Porter who drove in the winning run in thebottom of the seventh. That shot propelled Brookhaven to a 6-5 winover the Wesson Lady Cobras.

Porter, a senior, had 2 singles, a run scored and thegame-winning triple to pace the Lady Panthers.

Brookhaven posted a 9-3 win over Wesson in the preliminary JVgame.

Brookhaven travels to South Pike on Sept. 4 for their initialDivision 6-4A test of the young season. The JV game begins at 6p.m., followed by the varsity game at 7.

Wesson plays at Natchez Cathedral on Sept. 4. A single varsitygame begins at 5 p.m.

Brookhaven 6, Wesson 5

Both teams provided some breathtaking moments on the defensiveside of the ball, each robbing the other of several extra potentialruns with some heartstopping catches. Brookhaven and Wesson runproduction was slowed by the defensive display, but both teamswould pick up the pace as the night went on.

“Brookhaven got key hits when they needed them,” said Wessonhead coach Lane Young following the game. “We just left too manyplayers on base.”

It would be the Lady Cobras, who would open the scoring in inthe third, garnering a 1-0 lead. Brittany King singled. BrittanySmith singled, advancing King to second. Hayley Carr grounded intoa fielder’s choice, forcing Smith out at second and moving King tothird. Maggie Morgan’s fly ball to right centerfield scoredKing.

The Lady Cobras (1-5) added 2 runs in the fourth. Maggie Johnsonsingled. Anna Johnson reached on a 2-base error by Brookhaven,moving Maggie Johnson to third. Andrea Watson singled to scoreMaggie Johnson. King singled to score Anna Johnson and Young’sballclub had increased their lead to 3-0.

Wesson produced 2 runs in their half of the fifth, raising theiradvantage to 5-0. Smith and Carr issued back-to-back singles.Morgan reached on an error to load the bases. Three batters later,Kail Baldwin singled to score Smith and Carr.

Brookhaven’s bats came to life in the bottom of the fifth, tyingthe game at 5-5.

Shameka Gilmore singled. Megan Bateman singled to move Gilmoreto second. Chavaqua Smith grounded into a fielder’s choice, forcingGilmore out at third. Porter singled to load the bases. ChaquitaRancifer singled to score Bateman. Samantha Boutwell singled toscore Smith. Lizzie Wilson reached on a fielding error by Wesson,that allowed Porter and Rancifer to score. Ginny Dunaway singled,scoring Boutwell.

The Lady Panthers (2-4) have been looking a key hit often in theearly part of this young season. Their opportunity came in thebottom of the dramatic seventh.

Smith singled. Porter line a shot into left that fell justinches inside of the foul line. The ball nearly rolled to theoutfield, as Smith came streaking towards homeplate to score thewinning run with no outs.

“It feels good to finally get one,” said a jubilant Lady Pantherhead coach Lisa Covington following the game. “We knew that we hadit in us, if we would quit hitting pop-ups.”

Mandy Vinson was the winning pitcher for Brookhaven

Lending support for Brookhaven was Dunaway, a senior, with 2singles and a RBI. Gilmore singled twice. Bateman, Smith, Porter,Rancifer and Boutwell crossed homeplate to score.

Wesson was led by King with 3 singles, a run scored and a RBI.Brittany Smith singled twice. Carr provided 2 singles. King, Smith,Carr, Maggie Johnson and Anna Johnson scored for the LadyCobras.

King suffered the loss for Wesson.

In the JV game, Brookhaven was led by Kristin Johnson with asingle, a homerun and 4 RBIs. Scoring runs were Allyson Wallace,Brittany Smith, Jaronda Moore, Kensy Hoff, Kayla Prince and LauraWaldrop.

Providing hitting for the Lady Panthers were Ashley Sykes whosingled twice. Wallace had 2 singles. Hoff singled and doubled.Prince, Waldrop, Rachel Blair and Kelly Vinson singledrespectively.

Wesson got run support from Amanda Jackson, Megan Allen andJulie Berry. Collecting hits for the Lady Cobras were Jackson witha double. Sam Ellison, Monica Garcia, Bethany Dykes, Stacey Lowery,Julie Berry, Meghann Johnson, Ashlea Brooks and Courtney Martin hadindividual singles.

@Linescore:Brookhaven 6, Wesson 5

Wesson

001

220

0 –

5

12

4

Brookhaven

000

050

1 –

6

14

2

@Bbstandings: WP – Mandy Vinson. LP – Brittany King 3B: Porter(B). Multiple Hits: Porter (B) 3, Smith (B) 2, Boutwell (B) 2,Dunaway (B) 2, Gilmore (B) 2, King (W) 3, B. Smith (W) 2, Carr (W)2.