In any softball game, especially one between two evenly matched teams, a multi-run inning can change the game’s dynamics. Such was the case last Wednesday when Jones County hosted Ola in a game with sole possession of first place in the region at stake.
A three-run third inning by the Mustangs helped them pull ahead for good, a place that they’d stay in a 5-3 win.
“When you are playing one of the top teams in the region, usually whoever gives up the big inning is on the wrong side of it,” Lady Greyhounds head coach Tripp Burt said. “We gave up a big inning and were not able to battle back from it.”
Jones County has multiple chances to bounce back this week, having faced Hampton and Eagles Landing on Tuesday and Wednesday and going to Locust Grove on Thursday.
“We just have to clean up a few little things,” Burt said. “It’s like we told the girls. ‘We are on the cusp of something special.
We just have to clean up the little things.’” The Lady Hounds got a good start against Ola, leading 3-1 through two innings before the Mustangs’ big inning and one more insurance run in the seventh. JCHS cashed in early, sending seven batters to the plate in the opening frame as Marissa Moore and Myah Briscoe scored runs for a 2-0 lead. Raylee Harris made it 3-1 in the second after reaching on being hit by a pitch. Moore led JCHS against Ola with two hits and RBIs came from Genna Maki, Kadi Sargent and Moore. But the early advantage didn’t last, as the three-run third by Ola put them in front, a place where they’d remain despite Jones County putting runners aboard in the fourth and sixth prior to the Mustangs keeping the Greyhounds at bay.
“Sometimes you need some timely hitting, we just didn’t get it when we needed it,” Burt said.
