WESSON – The Copiah-Lincoln Lady Wolves picked up their first division sweep of the season on Wednesday in Wesson with two wins over the Southwest Lady Bears. Co-Lin used 11 hits in game one to take a 6-1 win over the Lady Bears. In game two the Lady Wolves trailed 4-1 after two innings before exploding for nine unanswered runs in a 10-4 win.

Co-Lin 6, Southwest 1 

The game was originally scheduled to be played on Tuesday in Summit at 1 p.m. It was moved to Wednesday and then bumped back an hour to 2 p.m. Eventually the game was pushed back to 3 p.m. and moved to Wesson due to the field being too wet in Summit. Co-Lin will now travel to Southwest on March 30 for a doubleheader that had originally been scheduled for Wesson.

The Lady Wolves (8-4, 2-2 Division) got the leadoff hitter aboard in every inning and scored at least one run in every inning but the first. Sophomore Payton Sheffield, drawing the start at first base, went 2-4 at the plate with two doubles and two RBIs. Bogue Chitto product Mattie Avants, batting leadoff, also had two hits. Sophomore Breanna McKenzie had two hits, one RBI, and a double. Freshman infielder Lauren Brashier went 2-2 with two RBIs. Brittany Barbay, Kaitlyn Tayor, and Julian Johnson all also hit safely for the Lady Wolves. Avants stole one base and Greta Carley stole two.

Lady Bear starting pitcher Maddy Teague threw a whopping 119 pitches in six innings and struck out two in the loss. Rheagan Welch got the win in the circle after giving up one unearned run in six innings. Kamry Creel came in to pitch the seventh inning and gave up one hit.

“We had to do a lot of work to the field to get ready to play, but we’re glad we got the games in and happy that we picked up two division wins,” said Lady Wolves head coach Allen Kent.

Co-Lin 10, Southwest 4 

The Lady Bears did their damage early as they chased Co-Lin starter Lucy Lewis from the game after 1.2 innings. Lewis gave up four earned runs and allowed Southwest to score two runs on passed balls. Kent pulled Lewis and replaced her with Creel, who held the Lady Bears in check in game one. Creel was outstanding in relief, giving up no runs on three hits and working 5.1 innings.

As in game one, it was the leadoff hitters who set up the big innings for Co-Lin. Co-Lin scored three runs apiece in the third, fifth, and sixth innings. In all three the leadoff hitter got aboard to begin the inning. Co-Lin has played power ball most of the season, but the Lady Wolves used small ball to manufacture runs after Southwest had taken a 4-1 lead after the second inning. Jessica Crum and Breanna McKenzie, the top two power hitters on the team, both bunted to get aboard in the bottom of the fifth inning. McKenzie scored two with her bunt after a throwing error by Southwest.

Co-Lin outhit Southwest 13-6. McKenzie finished with 3-3 with a double and four RBIs. Savannah Johnston, Julian Johnson (two RBIs), and Brittany Barbay all had two hits apiece for Co-Lin. Johnston had a triple and Barbay had a double. Kristen Byrd went 1-1 with two RBIs. Greta Carely, Adrienne Wallace, and Jessica Crum (two RBIs) all had one hit apiece for the Lady Wolves. Carmen Perry and Mattie Avants stole a base apiece for Co-Lin.

Macy Fulton took the loss for Southwest (8-8, 0-4 Division) after surrendering nine earned runs in six innings of work.

“Camry did a great job in long relief of not giving them anything and small ball was the key for us in this game,” said Kent.

Co-Lin is next scheduled to host Jones County on Friday at 2 p.m. in Wesson.