news
“It was horrible,” Mooreville’s third baseman said. “It’s probably the worst conditions I’ve ever played in.
“When you stepped to make a play, you felt like you were going to fall.”
A steady rain, a muddy infield and a 12-2 lead allowed the umpires to call Tuesday’s Game 1 of the MHSAA Class 3A state quarterfinals slow-pitch best-of-three series and award the win to Booneville after 41⁄2 innings.
The second game, and third if needed, will be played today – weather permitting.
“We tried to get them in today,” Booneville coach Tommy Frazier said. “For the rain we’ve had, the field was in great shape. I didn’t want my girls or Mooreville’s to play in these conditions, but the (MHSAA) wants us to get these games in.”
The winner of this series advances to the state semifinals against Nettleton. That series must be completed before Saturday’s championship series in Jackson.
Frazier said they’ll do everything possible to play today.
“This field drains well,” he said. “With the right conditions ... sunshine and some wind (Wednesday), we might play late afternoon. If not, we’ll try Thursday.”
Booneville (17-9) put together a pair of five-run innings to shock the visiting Lady Troopers (16-8) and take an abbreviated 10-run victory.
Courtney Deaton’s bases-loaded triple was the key blast in the second inning, one that saw Mooreville walk three batters and commit a throwing error.
Raleigh Downs, Hannah Hootings, Maddine Hickman and Tiara Walker all had RBIs in the five-run fourth inning for the Lady Blue Devils.
“We made a statement in that one inning (the second) and took control,” Frazier said. “The big thing for us today was getting hits from the bottom of our order.
“Mooreville’s a better club than they showed today.”
The Lady Troopers scored both their runs in the third on singles by Jackson and Kelsey Miller. Mooreville had eight hits in all, three by Jackson.
“It was all ugly today, the weather and the play,” Mooreville coach Perry Wilburn said. “Booneville hit the ball well today. We couldn’t throw strikes that one inning and couldn’t come back.”