news
didn’t begin well for
Corinth.
The Lady Warriors were
delayed by a flat tire on
their bus on the way to face
North Pontotoc in the
MHSAA Class 4A slowpitch
quarterfinals.
Then once Game 1 of
their best-of-three series
was under way, Corinth
committed errors that led
to a 3-run homer by North
Pontotoc’s Arriann Henry.
But the Lady Warriors
found new life.
Stennett Smith, Portia
Patterson and Rebekah
Williams provided key hits
as Corinth overcame a 7-3
setback in Game 1 with
wins of 9-2 and 15-0 to earn
a return to the 4A North finals.
“What was so shocking
to me is our pitching and
defense were so solid all
year, then that’s kind of
where we were getting
hurt,” said Corinth coach
Janna LaBarreare. “Today,
we came out flat and
needed that spark.”
In Game 2, Smith hit her
second homer of the day
andWilliams and Patterson
each provided 2-run doubles
to spur their rally.
In Game 3, Williams
drove in seven runs – three
coming on a home run in
the second inning. Corinth
(24-7) had 18 hits and Elizabeth
Williams held the
Lady Vikings to three.
“In that third game, we
were getting base hit after
base hit,” said Rebekah
Williams, a sophomore.
“And we were just trying to
get line drives.”
Henry belted three home
runs in the series for North
Pontotoc (27-6), but the
Div. 2-4A champs were
plagued by errors.
“I thought we played the
worst defense we’ve played
all year,” said Lady Vikings
coach Shane Montgomery,
whose squad had a dozen
miscues in the series.
“Then Corinth woke up
and showed why they’re
the defending North 4A
champions.”