With the 2022 regular season winding down, the West Marion Lady Trojans are heating up. Three more wins over the past week extended their current winning streak to seven games, lifting them to a commanding lead for first place in the Region 8-3A standings.
"The biggest thing is that we've got really good chemistry right now," head coach Cory Odom said. "We're playing great team softball. We're getting hits when we need them, moving runners and everything is just sort of clicking at the right time. It's really fun to watch right now, and I'm really proud of them."
The Lady Trojans dominated their second district series against Our Lady Academy with a 15-0 shutout at home and a 20-3 win on the road to remain undefeated against region foes. Paris Thompson, Sam Pittman and Lainey Brumfield each drove in 2 RBI in the first contest March 29, and Olivia Miller struck out seven in three innings to blank the Lady Crescents.
Thompson's success at the plate sparked the Lady Trojans' 20-run performance in Game 2 March 31, batting 2-for-3 with a home run and 5 RBI in the contest.
"She's a really talented junior with a whole lot of power," Odom said of Thompson. "When she gets rolling, she's tough."
Miller was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate, with two doubles and a triple to tack on four more runs for West Marion as they overpowered OLA from start to finish.
The wave of momentum rolled over into their non-district game against Seminary on Saturday, as the Lady Trojans outlasted the Lady Bulldogs to earn a 9-3 win on the road. This time Brumfield shined brightest, slapping one out of the park for a grand slam to tack on 4 RBI in just one trip to the plate. Thompson, Kady Stringer and Kat Santangelo drove in the other five, and Izzy Pittman earned the win from the circle with four strikeouts and no runs allowed through four innings pitched.
West Marion now boasts a 16-3 overall record and a 4-0 mark in district play, placing them well ahead of the pack for first place in the region standings with only two weeks remaining in the regular season. As far as Odom and the Lady Trojans are concerned, however, their record is 0-0 entering this week's matchups.
"That's what I really try to drive home to them is to take it one game at a time and control what we can control," Odom said. "We want to make sure that we define what success is as a team because it's easy to get caught up in all the noise. We talk a lot about focusing, staying in the moment and not looking too far ahead."
Two more district series remain on their schedule, starting this week with a pair of games against second-place Jefferson Davis County on Thursday and Friday. They will host Tylertown on Monday before wrapping up the regular season with a home-and-away series against St. Patrick.
