
No. 3 Gulf Coast opens tourney with W
PHOTO BY LEE ADAMS/LETSGOICC.COM
FULTON — Whitley Tanner's three-run double provided the bulk of the offense for No. 3 Mississippi Gulf Coast, and Emaleigh Coates made it stand up as the Bulldogs opened the MACCC Tournament with a 4-1 win over Northwest Mississippi.
"It puts us in the region tournament, which is a big deal, but it always kind of makes a statement that we came up here to play," Gulf Coast coach Kenneth Long said. "Northwest is a good team, so it's a good win for us."
Gulf Coast will play No. 6 Jones in a winners' bracket showdown Thursday at 5 p.m. No. 2 Itawamba is hosting the eight-team, double-elimination tournament, which will conclude Saturday.
Five teams will advance to the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament, which will be hosted by LSU Eunice. Gulf Coast clinched a spot in the field with its victory.
The Bulldogs scratched out a run in the first Caroline Moore (So., Maryville, Tenn./Maryville) drew a leadoff walk and scored on a passed ball.
That was the score in the third after Gulf Coast loaded the bases on a Rakeya Travis (So., Poplarville/Poplarville) single and two-out walks by Briana Shores (So., Richland/Richland) and Aislynn Andrews (Fr., Poplarville/Poplarville).
Long had a quick conference with Tanner where he reminded her of an at-bat last week in practice where she'd homered.
"She just approached it the same way and did a great job," he said.
Tanner (Fr., Hurley/East Central) hit the first offering where it was pitched. She lofted the low-and-outside pitch over the head of the left fielder. When the carousel stopped, she was standing on second all alone.
"I just knew I had a job to do," Tanner said. "The bases were loaded and I knew it was 1-0. I knew I had to do a job, so that's what I did."
Coates allowed a single hit in each inning but retired the leadoff batter in each frame. Northwest's only run came on a sixth-inning homer by Molly Harris. Coates struck out five and walked three.
Her biggest struggle came in the fourth when sweat caused her trouble gripping the ball. After setting down the first two batters, she gave up a single, then walked two batters. Coates threw a tough pitch to Meredith Owen to induce a weak liner she caught herself.
"I think there are some things I need to work on, trying to close things down with two outs," Coates said. "Other than that, I think I threw one of my best games."
In her last eight outings, she's 6-1 with a save and a shrinking 1.06 ERA. She held the Rangers offense, which was averaging 8.5 runs per game, way below their average.
"She just battled on the mound," Long said. "She had one inning where she had a couple walks, but she just gives us a chance to win. One earned run, that's a great job."
Gulf Coast and Jones split their regular-season meeting in Ellisville earlier this season. The Bulldogs' win was Long 600th in charge of the team.
"I know it's going to be a battle," Long said. "Both teams will be ready to play. It'll be one of those games where it's two top-10 teams playing. It's going to be a great game, and I know our team will be willing to play just like their team will."
MACCC Softball Championship
Fulton
Wednesday, May 5
Game 1: No. 6 Northeast vs. No. 3 Jones 9, No. 6 Northeast 1 (5 innings)
Game 2: No. 2 Gulf Coast 4, No. 7 Northwest 1
Game 3: No. 1 Itawamba 6, No. 8 Hinds 1
Game 4: No. 5 Pearl River vs. No. 4 Copiah-Lincoln, 7:30 pm
Thursday, May 6
Game 5: Northeast vs. Northwest, noon (Elimination game)
Game 6: Hinds vs. Loser Game 4, 2:30 pm (Elimination game)
Game 7: Jones vs. Gulf Coast 2, 5 pm
Game 8: Itawamba vs. Winner Game 4, 7:30 pm
Friday, May 7
Game 9: Loser Game 8 vs. Winner Game 5, noon (Elimination game)
Game 10: Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 6, 2:30 pm (Elimination game)
Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 5 pm
Game 12: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 7:30 pm (Elimination game)
Saturday, May 8
Game 13: Loser Game 11 vs. Winner Game 13, 1 pm (Elimination game)
Game 14: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 13, 3:30 pm
Game 15: Winner Game 14 vs. Loser Game 14, 6 pm, if necessary
For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.