On a cold and windy day in March, the Brookhaven Lady Panthers braved the elements to defeat the Loyd Star Lady Hornets 7-4 Monday night in a non-divisional softball contest at Ole Brook’s softball complex.

“This was a great defensive game by both teams,” said BHS coach Chad Walker. “I am very pleased with my girls’ efforts. They managed to come up with some big hits when we had runners on base.”

The Lady Panthers (6-5, 1-0) resume action Thursday. They host their arch regional rival, the McComb Lady Tigers. Junior varsity action kicks off at 5 p.m., followed by the varsity at 6:30.

The Lady Hornets (8-8, 2-1) will be in action today. They visit Enterprise to battle the Lady Yellow Jackets in a regional test. Junior varsity action kicks off at 5 p.m., followed by the varsity at 6.

Brookhaven 7, Loyd Star 4

Loyd Star and Brookhaven’s softball fans gathered on a very cold and windy day to witness the two teams battle through the elements.

Loyd Star came out and struck first in the opener and grabbed a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the first inning, Brookhaven answered with two runs.

The Lady Hornets battled back to tie the game at 2-all in the second inning.

In the third inning, Ole Brook managed to regain the lead at 4-2

In the fifth inning, both teams pushed across two runs each as BHS maintained the lead 6-4 and added an insurance run in the sixth inning for the win.

Freshmen Katherine Shell was the winning pitcher for the Lady Panthers with five strikeouts and three walks.

Shell provided the offensive spark to lead Ole Brook with a triple, double and a single. Taylor Murray fueled the flames with two singles. Hitting safely were Shelby Case, Shelby Peavey and Rileigh Allen.

Kelsie McCullough suffered the setback for the Lady Hornets with one strikeout and no walks.

Hannah Smith and Lauren Norton paced Loyd Star’s offense with two singles apiece. Ali Gartman, Anna Grace Cupit and McCullough hit safely.

“Brookhaven played a good game,” said Loyd Star coach Jan Delaughter. “Overall, we left too many runners on base in scoring position and errors killed us defensively.”

The Lady Hornets committed seven errors in the game. BHS had four.

In JV action, Loyd Star shut out Brookhaven 8-0.

Marley Poole was the offensive leader for the Lady Hornets with two singles. Megan Norton contributed a double. Kaylea Smith, Lesley Walker, Brooke Rushing and Lani Smith singled.

Tia Bussey and Rileigh Allen directed the Lady Panthers’ offense with a single apiece.