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With Tishomingo County runners at second and third with one out in the top of the sixth, Moorman snagged Kayleigh Tucker’s line drive for the second out.
Moorman then threw across the diamond to double off Ashlie Richardson at third base, ending the Lady Braves’ last threat and securing Pontotoc’s 6-2 win in Game 2 of the Class 4A fastpitch softball quarterfinals.
Saturday’s win capped a sweep for Pontotoc, which won Friday’s game at Tishomingo County 3-0. The Lady Warriors (20-9) advance to the North championship series to face Houston.
“That play right there couldn’t have been better for us at that particular time,” Pontotoc coach Jessica Seger said. “That’s what’s been very big for us this year is just taking one play after the next whether it’s on offense or defense.
“We just let it roll continuously, whichever way we’re on.” The Lady Warriors rolled on the offensive side early, scoring all their runs in the first two innings.
Alex Brown led off the first with a single and then scored two batters later on Olivia Owen’s RBI double. Two errors and a wild pitch allowed Pontotoc to tack on three more runs and lead 4-0 before Tishomingo County (17-15) could get out of the inning.
INSURANCE RUNS
Three straight two out hits in the second added two insurance runs for the Lady Warriors. Erin Claire Stegall’s triple in the leftcenterfield gap scored Brianna Farr and Owen to up Pontotoc’s lead to 6-1.
Macy Lambert and Dannah Glover had run scoring singles in the second and third innings, respectively, for the Lady Braves’ only runs.
Tishomingo County had their chances to score in the final innings, but left six runners on base, five of them in scoring position.
“I bet we’ve got over 200 runners left on base all year,” Lady Braves coach Malcolm Brown said. “And we’re gonna have one screw-up inning. That’s our cup of tea.”