CLINTON — The Co-Lin Lady Wolves hunt a Mississippi Associationof Community/Junior Colleges State Softball Tournamentchampionship, starting Thursday on the Clinton High School field.South Division champion Co-Lin plays the winner of the EastCentral-Itawamba game at 5 p.m.

>In other first rounds games, Hinds plays Gulf Coast at 3p.m. and North East plays the winner at 7 p.m. Double-eliminationplay continues Friday and concludes Saturday afternoon with thechampionship game at 2 p.m.

Coached by Allen Kent, the Lady Wolves (25-10) finished 12-4 inthe South Division race, earning the No. 1 seed out of the South.That mark earned them a first round bye.

Co-Lin swept Southwest at Summit last Saturday in the finalregular season twinbill. The Lady Wolves finished with a 6-0 runagainst South opponents. They’ve won 13 out of their last 16games.

“I am really proud of the girls,” said Kent. “They have remainedfocused and we finished the season with a bang. That should help usin the state tournament. We are peaking at the right time.”

Pitching will be a key to Co-Lin’s success in the tournament.Sophomores Becca Bailey (12-4) , Kayla Crochet (7-2) and freshmanRebecca Rousseau (4-1) lead the mound staff. Missy Paulina andBecca Boone work at catcher.

In Co-Lin’s infield, Rousseau is a first, Crochet and DevonWelch at second base, Ashley Sykes at shortstop and Meleah Brown atthird base.

In Co-Lin’s outfield are Emily Langley in center, Candace Avantsin left and Chelsey Miller and Welch in right.

Sykes, a sophomore from Brookhaven, boasts a .388 battingaverage and leads the team with 22 RBIs. Other leaders are Crochet(.373),, Rousseau (.360), Langley (.356), Miller (.348), Welch(.347), Brown (.344), Bailey (.324) and Avants (.267).

Bailey has a 1.40 ERA with 127 strikeouts and 18 walks in 94.2innings. Crochet has a 2.0 ERA.