The West Marion Lady Trojans had one of their best seasons in several years, but it came to an end Saturday afternoon at Choctaw Central.
West Marion (10-7) got off to a hot start in Game 1 at home Friday, but the wheels fell off in an 18-4 loss that bled into Saturday’s 11-1 contest in Philadelphia.
“That’s the best hitting team I’ve seen all year,” head coach Mike McMullin said of Choctaw Central. “Wesson is pretty good, too, so that ought to be a great matchup this week. They’re a very good team.”
A 10-run fourth inning by the Lady Warriors in Game 1 made the difference as five errors took their toll.
“We had one bad inning (in Game 1) and gave up a bunch of runs. It was probably the worst defensive game we’ve played all year,” McMullin said. “They hit three home runs and we hit two, but they had runners on and we had solo shots. We didn’t put hits together enough to get runs in.”
Hannah Miller and Paris Thompson homered for the Lady Trojans, and Sara Morgan drove in a pair on a double and a single. Morgan got the start and lasted 3 1/3 innings, while Miller tossed 2 1/3 in relief.
Choctaw Central jumped out to a 6-0 lead through three innings Saturday in Game 2 and never looked back. Miller had a single, a double and an RBI, while Thompson, Paris Andrews and Jacelyn Terrell had singles. Terrell pitched all five innings in the circle.
“Saturday I think we played a little bit better even though the score didn’t show it. We pitched two playoff games with two seventh-graders and a ninth-grader, and I told the girls not many teams did that,” McMullin said. “The pitching is going to get better, and we’re going to get better.”
While no team wants to see its season end with a loss, West Marion returns the majority of its roster for next season and has a bright future, according to McMullin.
“We have pretty much everybody coming back except for one (Andrews). We got a taste of it, and I think they’ll be a little more hungry as we go into the offseason because they liked the success,” he said. “They had a good year. I’m really proud of this young team. They did some things I didn’t think they could do. (Choctaw Central) was just a good team.”
Pictured Above: The Lady Trojans celebrate as Paris Thompson crosses the plate after a solo home run. | Photo by Mark Rogers
