ELLISVILLE, Miss. — Facing elimination and down to its final out, the No. 6-seed Pearl River softball team was clinging to a glimmer of hope in a one-run ball game with a runner on third base against Gulf Coast.
The Bulldog pitcher delivered a pitch that bounced in front of the catcher and rolled to the backstop. Freshman Emmaleigh Theriot (Prairieville, La.; St. Amant) dashed off the base and slid into the plate to keep the Wildcats alive for one more inning. An inning later, Anna Kate Rounsaville (Gulfport) activated her clutch factor and ripped a ball between the shortstop and third baseman for an emotional walk-off RBI single, sending the PRCC dugout spilling onto the field in excitement, 4-3.
"This team doesn't give up. It doesn't matter if there's two outs or two strikes — they don't give up easily," head coach Christie Meeks said. "They just keep fighting every pitch. We tried to do too much in the first half of the game, but we remembered who we were in the second half.
"What a great moment for Anna Kate. We all needed that. It was something incredible that she did for her teammates and herself."
The Wildcats began the day with an 8-0 loss against host Jones College before the bounce-back win. The Wildcats and Bobcats will square off again Tuesday at noon, with PRCC needing a win to force a winner-take-all championship game. The games will be livestreamed at JCBobcats.com/watch.
"If you have to say anything in the postseason, then you're not doing it right in the regular season," Meeks said. "They know what they're fighting and playing for. Tomorrow, we will go at it with our stuff and compete every pitch."
PEARL RIVER 4, GULF COAST 3.
Pearl River (36-16 overall) found itself in some trouble after four innings, trailing rival Gulf Coast (36-19) 3-0. The Wildcats had put runners aboard in several innings but couldn't manage to get the big hit when they needed it.
That all changed in the sixth inning. Natalee Eaves (Louisville; Choctaw Central) made the Bulldogs pay for a dropped third strike, reaching base and stealing second. Cailey Pervel (Carriere; Pearl River Central) drew a walk, and Caroline Lindsey (Gulfport) did her job by moving the runners up with a groundout. Maeli Ben (Conehatta; Newton County) delivered the first blow, knocking an RBI single to shortstop. Following a strikeout, Pearl River opted to go to one of its sophomores off the bench, Rounsaville. In what proved to be a moment of foreshadowing, Rounsaville knocked a clutch RBI single right back up the middle to get the Wildcats within a run of the Bulldogs, 3-2.
"We were more patient in the sixth," Meeks said. "We were chasing too much before. We capitalized when they made mistakes."
Theriot singled and stole second base to begin the seventh, but two groundouts by the Wildcats had them against the ropes. Theriot swiped the plate on a MGCCC wild pitch to even the score 3-3.
Three quick outs in the circle by Ana-Grace Garcia (Baton Rouge, La.; St. Joseph's) brought the Wildcats to the plate looking for the winning run in the bottom of the eighth. Ben walked, and Caitlyn Riche (Walker, La.) smashed a ball into the right-center field gap for a double. The Wildcats got aggressive and tried to score Ben, but she was thrown out at the plate — great baserunning by Riche saw her move around to third on the play. Two pitches later, Rounsaville ended the game with a smooth stroke into left field, 4-3.
Goodman and Theriot each went 2-for-4 at the one and two spots in the batting order. Theriot scored a run. Rounsaville was 2-for-2 with two huge RBIs. Ben had one hit and two walks.
Garcia threw eight innings of three-run softball. All three runs were unearned. She scattered five hits and one walk while striking out eight.
"Ana-Grace spins it so well," Meeks said. "Her good stuff was hard tonight, and her changeup kept people off balance. We're blessed to have her and her competitiveness on the pitching staff."
JONES COLLEGE 8, PEARL RIVER 0.
Few things went right for the Wildcats in their first game of the day against Jones College (45-8). Despite getting runners aboard in all but one inning, the Bobcats continuously pitched their way out of danger.
Jones scored two runs in the second, three in the fourth, one in the fifth and two in the sixth inning to secure an 8-0 run-rule victory over Pearl River in six frames.
PRCC used four pitchers in the contest. Lizzie Meeks (Ripley; Pine Grove) threw 1 1/3 innings, Garcia tossed 2 1/3, Ballard Craft (Liberty; Amite School Center) recorded two outs and Gracey Harbour (Batesville; South Panola) recorded one. Garcia tallied five strikeouts and Kraft had two.
Goodman, Lindsey, Ben, Riche and Hoffmayer each had hits. Theriot walked twice and stole a base.
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