The West Lincoln Lady Bears came storming back from a five-run deficit on Tuesday night to top the Brookhaven Lady Panthers 6-5 in eight innings.

Brookhaven went up 5-0 after the first inning, but they didn’t stake that lead with hot bats — Brookhaven finished the game with only two hits. Their success in the first inning came off walks and a Sharquita Cook grand-slam.

West Lincoln tied the game at five in the top of the seventh inning with an Adi Paden fielder’s choice RBI. The Lady Bears would get the game winning run an inning later when Camryn Summerall hit a long fly ball that carried over the fence at the Lady Panther Softball Complex.

Summerall wasn’t thinking about hitting her first home run of the season when she did so.

“I was just thinking to myself to not worry about swinging for the fence, but put the ball into play with a hard hit,” said a beaming Summerall.

West Lincoln posted 16 hits in the win.

Wins haven’t come easy this season for West Lincoln. It’s not because the Lady Bears have played bad, it’s because crummy weather has kept West Lincoln from playing at all.

“We had three weeks where we didn’t play a scheduled game,” said longtime Lady Bears leader Andrew Redd. “Most all of those were rainouts, but we did have some teams that were on our schedule to forfeit.”

On Monday night, the Lady Bears clinched the number two spot in Region 8-Division II with a 9-5 win over Perry Central. Bailee Goodson led West Lincoln at the plate against Perry Central after finishing 4-for-4.

West Lincoln posted 17 hits in the win, including a three-run home run by Terrah Clifton and a double by Morgan Newman. Pitcher Maddox Redd picked up the win against Brookhaven and Perry Central.

West Lincoln will host French Camp on Saturday at noon in the opening round of the state slow pitch playoffs.

Brookhaven 15, Franklin County 4

The Lady Panthers rebounded from their loss to the Lady Bears to whip Franklin County in a five-inning game on Tuesday night.

The game was preceded by a ceremony honoring Kat Wallace, the only senior on the Brookhaven roster. Wallace teared up as messages from her teammates played on the public address system during the ceremony.

Wallace, a Jones County softball commit, is as gritty of an infielder as you’ll find, and plays the game with intensity and focus. The emotions of the night came from a place of love for her younger teammates who follow her lead.

“I just love being a Panther and love playing on this field,” said Wallace.

Wallace was on fire at the plate in her final regular season slow pitch game. She hit a solo home run in the first inning and followed that with a two-RBI triple and a two-RBI double.

Kaysha Register also hit a home run and an RBI single for Brookhaven. Maggie Reynaud hit a two-RBI double for BHS. Lynsey Nations and Kyla Henderson also had two RBIs apiece. CeAria Henderson was the winning pitcher.

The 19-5 Lady Panthers now await the winner of the West Harrison versus Hattiesburg first-round playoff matchup. Brookhaven will host the winner for a three-game series at the Lady Panther Softball Complex on Saturday, Oct. 6.

Story by Cliff Furr