Simpson Academy-9
Columbia Academy-5
(Monday at Simpson)
“I saw a lot of competitiveness. We have a lot of new faces. We just wanted to go over there to compete and give ourselves a chance to win in the sixth and seventh innings. We were in the ball game, so we accomplished what we wanted to do in the first game to get the jitters out of the way. We have to throw strikes, swing the bat and not take third strikes looking. We have to be more aggressive attacking the strike zone both offensively and defensively.” – head coach Heath Smith
Highlight: Slade Wilks: Home run, 4 IP, 8 K, 2 ER
Wayne County-8
Columbia-7
Hattiesburg-3
Columbia-2
(Both Feb. 17 at Hattiesburg)
“I always like to challenge our guys throughout the season, especially early. We played two 5A teams with one ranked No. 8 in the nation. We were challenging our guys right from the beginning and ended dropping both in the bottom of the fourth (inning). I don’t call jamborees wins or losses since they’re only four inning games, but I felt good about the way we competed for eight innings. I was pleased with our approach at the plate. We saw a couple guys in the 90s and a couple guys throwing upper 80s, so I was pleased seeing early in the year we’re comfortable against velocity.” – head coach Greg Owen
Highlight: Trey Hobgood: 1-for-2, 1 2/3 IP, 0 ER against Hattiesburg
West Marion in Poplarville jamboree
“Last year one of the big things we struggled with was swinging the bats. We thought we’d be a little bit better this year, and we did. We scored 14 runs in the first game and eight in the second game. Randy Ramos hit two home runs in the first game and Trace McNabb hit one in the second, so we swung the bats a lot better.” – head coach Derrick Jerkins
Highlight: Randy Ramos: 5-for-5, 2 HR combined
Columbia softball in Columbia jamboree
“We played well kicking it off in the jamboree. We saw some things we needed to work on, so we’re back to work this week. We have the Wesson Classic Saturday and will play Hattiesburg at 11 a.m. and Wesson at 12:30 p.m. We just have to get better all the way around, offensively and defensively. The girls are working hard, so every day we’re just trying to get better. – head coach Greg Arnold
Highlight: 8-5 win over Tylertown
East Marion softball in Columbia jamboree
East Marion participated in the Columbia jamboree and lost to Tylertown 4-3. The Lady Eagles also played Columbia, but results were unavailable. Head coach Jeremy Allen could not be reached for comment.
Pictured Above: Leah Nolan swings in the Columbia jamboree. | Photo by Mark Rogers
