WESSON — The Co-Lin Lady Wolves kicked off their 2008 softballseason with a pair of wins over the East Mississippi CommunityCollege Lady Lions Thursday afternoon.

Co-Lin won the opener 8-0 and the finale 11-3.

The Wolves travel to Raymond to meet Hinds Tuesday. The firstgame of the doubleheader begins at 1 p.m.,

Co-Lin 8, East Mississippi 0

Sophomore pitcher Meleah Brown tossed a 1-hit shutout inthe first game. Brown, a Bogue Chitto product, struck out 3 battersand issued no walks in the five-inning, 8-run rulegame.

“Meleah had a great game, staying ahead in the count andletting our defense help her out,” said Co-Lin softball coach AllenKent. “She also helped her own cause defensively, recording fourputouts.”

Co-Lin exploded for 7 runs in the first inning. Freshmanleftfielder Candace Avants led off with a single then took secondon an overthrow. Three walks, and out and an error lager, RebeccaRousseau singled in a run. Following a walk, freshman rightfielderDevon Welch smashed a 2 RBI single. Avants smashed a single tocenter to score 2 more runs for her second hit of theinning.

In the fifth, Co-Lin shortstop Ashley Sykes drew aleadoff walk and Rousseau sacrificed her to second. CenterfielderEmily Langley singled in Sykes to end the mercy rulegame.

Kayla Crochet singled for the Lady Wolves.

Freshman pitcher Brooke Lee was the losing pitcher with8 runs allowed on 7 hits. Freshman Josie Matthews doubled for theLady Lions.

“I was slightly disappointed with our offensive outputafter that first inning,” added Kent. “We were a little impatient,but overall, it was a good first game. We made no errors. I wasvery proud of that.”

Co-Lin 11, East Mississippi 3

In the second game, the Lady Wolves struck first for 5runs in the first inning off of only 1 hit. Langley’s 2-out tripleplated 2 runs. Co-Lin took advantage of 7 walks and 2 hit batterson the day. The hosts added 3 more runs in the 4th inning and 3 inthe 5th to end the game via the mercy rule.

Rousseau picked up the win. The San Antonio, Tex. ,product went 4 innings, scattering 4 hits with 3 strikeouts, 1 walkand 1 earned run. Becca Bailey of Baton Rouge got the save workingthe 5th inning and allowing 1 hit and 1 base on balls.

Alex Mallette took the loss with 11 runs allowed on 6hits. At the plate, Mallett and Sara Havard collected 2 hitsapiece.

Crochet smoked 2 doubles and scored a run. Avants andBrown had an RBI single apiece. Missy Pauline hit a RBI double.Langley also walked twice and scored 3 times.

“It was a good day overall,” added Kent. We onlycommitted 1 error in the 2 games. We got good pitching and had somepretty decent at bats.”