SENATOBIA – Playing its sixth Top 15 opponent this season, Northwest fell to 8th-ranked Jones County by 11-3 and 4-1 finals to close out its regular season home slate Sunday afternoon.
Northwest dropped to 16-16 overall and 10-14 in the MACJC while Jones County moved to 33-6 and 22-2 in conference play.
(Game 1) Scoring nine runs over the first two innings of play, Jones County built up a sizeable advantage and never looked back, defeating the Rangers 11-3 in five innings.
A single and two walks loaded the bases for the Lady Bobcats in the top of the first and set up Brittany Baty's grand slam over left-center. Baty's 14th home run of the season put Jones County ahead with an early 4-0 lead.
Northwest cut the deficit to 4-2 in the bottom of the first as a wild pitch and an error scored
Allison Williams from third and
Kailey Walker from second, bringing the Rangers within two runs.
Jones County would respond with another scoring surge in the second inning, sparked by Kalyn Watts' fielder's choice RBI that drove in Brittany Hagwood from third. The Lady Bobcats followed with two singles and an error and stretched their lead to 9-2.
Northwest scored once more in the bottom of the frame thanks to a Jones County error that sent
Avery McCullough from third but that was all the scoring for the Rangers in Game 1. JCJC added a two-run RBI-single in the top of the fifth to extend the lead at 11-3 in the five inning run-rule victory.
Rachel Hayes tossed all five innings for Jones County and improved her season record to 17-1, allowing three runs on six hits with a walk and six strikeouts.
Leeah Henson entered the game in relief of
Ashton Needham and threw five innings, giving up seven runs on eight hits.
Williams led Northwest at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored in the leadoff spot.
(Game 2) Leading by just one run entering the seventh inning, Brittany Baty's two-run homer was the separator in Jones County's 4-1 victory.
Much like the first contest, JCJC got on the board in the first inning thanks to Kelly Byrd's RBI-single through the left side. Natalie Hogue added an RBI-single of her own in the next at-bat, giving the Lady Bobcats the early 2-0 lead.
Scoreless the next two innings, the Rangers closed the gap to 2-1 in the fourth with
Heath Griffith's RBI-single through the right side. Northwest also did its part in the field for five innings, keeping Jones County off the board until Baty's homer in the seventh.
Amanda Holliday went the distance for Jones County and gave up just one run on four hits with a walk and four strikeouts.
Tori Luke also went the complete seven innings for the Rangers and scattered four runs on eight hits with a walk and three strikeouts.
Northwest will hit the road to close out the final week of the regular season, traveling to Meridian on Saturday, April 16 for a 12/2 doubleheader (at the city park) and Monday, April 18 at 3/5 p.m. at East Mississippi.
