Manchester Academy went 3-2 in the district tournament to earn a #3 seed in the 2017 Class AA State Tournament.
The games began on Saturday when the Lady Mavs were to face a team they have played many times over the years.
In the first game, the Lady Mavs were pitted against the Lady Trojans of Central Holmes, and the game could not have begun worse for the team from Yazoo.
The first three batters from Central Holmes all reached home plate, thanks in part to some timely errors, and the Lady Trojans took a 3-0 lead
Manchester settled down and made plays after the disastrous first inning. They played strong defense and pieced together some hits to score two runs, though it simply wasn’t enough.
The Lady Mavs fell in game one 3-2, sending them to the loser’s bracket.
According to Manchester head softball coach Robert Black, it wasn’t the first time his team stumbled out of the game early on a Saturday.
“We played a tournament in Indianola earlier in the season and didn’t show up on the field,” Black said. “There’s something about early Saturday morning games that don’t agree with us. The same thing kind of happened on Saturday. To their credit, Central Holmes is just really good. They have a terrific pitcher.”
The Lady Mavs faced yet another a familiar foe in their second game against divisional opponent St. Joe, a team the Lady Mavs defeated twice during the regular season.
The outcome in game number three was no different. Manchester dominated the contest 16-2 to advance to their third game of the day, a win-or-go-home game against Winona Christian.
Manchester opened game number three with a bang when McKayla Williams hit a leadoff bomb to give her squad a 1-0 lead.
But the offense went cold soon after, allowing Winona to score some runs and take the lead.
The Lady Stars held a 4-1 lead heading into the sixth inning.
Manchester was able to score a run in the sixth inning to cut the lead to 4-2.
To lead off the seventh inning, Danyale Havens and Elise Sowell, two seniors, kicked off the comeback by getting on base and setting the table for the top of the order to bring them home and give Manchester a 6-4 lead that would be the final score.
Manchester’s comeback allowed them the opportunity to both play on Monday and play at the State Tournament next weekend.
The first game on Monday would help determine the seeding moving forward, and the Lady Mavs found themselves in a rematch against Central Holmes.
Central Holmes and Manchester each produced three runs early on in the contest to set up dramatics for the end of the game.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Elise Sowell hit a leadoff double to get into scoring position. Ashlee Sowell was up next and popped out, but in the process, Central Holmes had a throwing error trying to double up by throwing out Elise. The ball flew wildly into the outfield, and Elise was able to score, giving the Lady Mavs the win.
Manchester had no time to sit around and enjoy the win because their old rival, Tri-County Academy, the two-time defending state champs, was looming.
In the first two games between the teams this season, TCA won 2-0 in a rain-shortened game and 6-0.
The Lady Mavs finally put their first run up against Tri-County in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead early.
But the Lady Rebels came right back and tied it up at 1-1 in the second inning.
Game on.
TCA gained their first lead of the game in the bottom of the third, where their leadoff batter hit an infield single, worked around the bases, and was brought home on a deep fly ball, making it a 2-1 game.
In the fifth inning, Thenya Kennedy led things off with a single to left field. Havens followed suit with an infield single, and a walk left the bases loaded with two outs for Merrell Nichols, who hit an RBI single to tie things up at 2-2. Lanie Potter was up next, and she made the most of her at-bat, drilling a ball into the outfield for a three-run triple to give the Lady Mavs a commanding 5-2 lead.
The Lady Rebels won two state titles thanks to their resiliency, and it came through on Monday. A leadoff bunt was followed by an RBI double and an RBI triple, cutting Manchester’s lead to 5-4.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Lady Rebels bunted the bases loaded. An RBI pop out and a two-run single gave TCA a 7-5 run with one inning left to play.
Elise Sowell started the comeback with a leadoff single, which was followed by an Ashlee Sowell infield single. McKayla Williams hit an RBI single to right field to make it a 7-6 game. Skylar Singleton hit a fly ball to the outfield that allowed Ashlee Sowell to score and tie the game up at 7-7.In the bottom of the seventh with a runner on third and one out, TCA hit a fly ball to shallow right, and for a second, it looked as if TCA would get a walk-off win. But a bullet fired from the arm of Macy Huggins nailed the runner at home and sent the game to extra innings.
After Manchester could get nothing going in the top of the eighth inning, TCA had a leadoff bunt and had the bases loaded for them by MA to try for the double play, but TCA hit one deep enough to get a runner home and win the game. TCA took it 8-7, eliminating Manchester from the tournament.
Black believes it was the best game his team played against TCA this year, and against a team of that caliber, that bodes well for his team moving forward.
“You could make an argument that we gave them a fight in the first game we played against them, but yeah, we had a couple of chances to win this one,” Black said. “We played very well and had a few very outstanding defensive plays to keep us in the game. They’re a very good team. They play great small ball. They get bunts down and can fly. It’s hard to get them out.”
While the Lady Mavs didn’t win the tournament, Black was still proud.
He was proud of how they fought with their season on the line.
“I’m very proud of the girls,” Black said. “I asked them after the game if they remembered the first game of the tournament. We were one loss away from the season ending, but we won three straight. It wasn’t a bad turnaround.”
Manchester got plays from every single player over the course of the five games, and they needed each one.
Black feels that his team is playing their best ball of the season right now.
“We’ve had two peaks,” Black said. “We had a peak mid-season and followed it with a slump. We’re peaking again now. This is the time you want to be playing well. When the bottom of the order needs to get on base, they do. We’re getting defensive plays from everyone. Everybody is contributing, and it’s definitely a team effort.”
Manchester’s bid for a state title will continue in Magee on Saturday when they face Brookhaven Academy at noon.
