Lady Panthers pound Florence in 4A sweep
Published 5:00 am Monday, October 21, 2002
The Brookhaven Lady Panthers whipped Florence 14-1 and 17-3Saturday afternoon at the Hansel King Sportsplex, landing a berthin the South State 4A championship series. The Lady Panthersaccounted for 37 hits and 31 runs in the sweep of Florence.
Brookhaven (24-6) will play Northeast Lauderdale in thebest-of-three series on Tuesday. Northeast Lauderdale defeatedPoplarville Saturday. The state finals next Saturday at VA Fieldsin Jackson.
“I’m very pleased with our offense,” said Brookhaven head coachLisa Covington. “We have been hitting the ball real well lately. Weonly had one error in two games and that’s very good defense.”
Brookhaven 14, Florence 1
Mandy Vinson was the winning pitcher in both games as the LadyPanthers took the opener in 5 innings.
At the plate, first baseman Samantha Boutwell led Brookhavenwith a triple and 2 singles. Vinson singled twice and doubled.Third baseman Ashley Sykes homered and doubled. Extra hitter KenziHoff collected 3 singles. Right fielder Brittany Smith andleft-center fielder Cortney Fielder singled. Leftfielder JaRondaMoore doubled. Shortstop Megan Bateman singled. Second basemanAllyson Wallace and catcher Kayla Prince singled as Brookhavenexploded for 11, second-inning runs.
The Lady Panthers battered Florence pitcher for 8 consecutivehits and 13 total in the second inning.
The Lady Eagles only had 5 hits in the opener.
Brookhaven 17, Florence 3
The Lady Panthers needed 5 innings to eliminate Florence in thesecond game.
Directing the victory was Sykes with a homer and 2 singles.Sykes hit a 3-run homer in the second frame.
Bateman had 3 singles for Brookhaven. Right-centerfielderChuvaqua Smith also had 3 singles. Moore tripled and singled.Boutwell and Hoff both doubled and singled. Smith, Vinson, Wallaceand Portia Dickey singled.