The Brookhaven Academy softball team took care of business this weekend in winning two games to open play at the MAIS 5A South State Tournament in Vicksburg.

The Cougars (24-4-1) whipped Adams County Christian School 10-0 in their opener on Saturday and then moved on in the winner’s bracket with an 8-2 victory over Cathedral School.

Those victories set BA for a 1 p.m. showdown today with Parklane Academy (24-4) in a game featuring the two teams left with unbeaten records in the tourney field. 

Parklane reached the third round unbeaten by dispatching Saint Aloysius 2-1 and Copiah Academy 2-0 on Saturday.

The matchup today will be the third of the season between the Cougars and the Pioneers from Pike County.

BA won the first matchup in McComb by a 5-4 final score in a game that went to 10-innings on Aug. 8. The two teams met in Brookhaven on Aug. 28 and the Cougars won 3-2 on a walk off 3-run home run by Bailey Parks.

Brookhaven Academy head coach Lisa Covington and her squad have lost just twice since that second Parklane matchup. The Cougars dropped a home game 4-0 to 6A Hartfield Academy and then lost last Monday by a 2-1 score at Amite School Center.

Junior Kensy Covington pitched BA to the win over ACCS on Saturday. She struck out eight and walked two while giving up just two hits in five innings. Annaston Poole and Morgan Chemin drove in two runs apiece in the victory. Poole hit two doubles, Ann Elise Duncan hit one double and Covington slugged a home run. 

Cathedral led 1-0 after the first half inning in the second BA game of the day. The Cougars responded by scoring two runs in the bottom of the first and then one in the second and five in the third to blow the game open. 

Poole nearly hit for the cycle as she had two singles, a double and a triple in the win. Right fielder Miriam Wallace drove in two runs.

Duncan pitched the win and gave up two earned runs on six hits. She struck out nine and walked three.

Cathedral and Copiah play prior to BA and Parklane in a loser’s bracket elimination game. The winner of that game will then play the loser between BA and Parklane with the tournament championship scheduled to begin at approximately 5 p.m. on Monday.

The two-time defending 5A champion Cougars have already qualified to play in the MAIS 5A State Tournament that will begin on Saturday in Magee.