Five innings into a softball game with Kossuth last Friday, it appeared that Choctaw County was headed to victory to force a third and decisive game in the MHSAA 3A playoff series. Then Lady Luck turned her back on the Lady Chargers.
After dropping the series opener 16-6 at Kossuth, the Lady Chargers needed to sweep a home doubleheader to advance. Choctaw County broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. But pitching ace Lizzie Thomas, the daughter of Choctaw County coach Lance Thomas, was struck on the knee by a line drive. She remained in the game, but Kossuth got to her for six runs in the sixth.
“That changed the momentum of the game,” said coach Thomas.
Kossuth added a run in the seventh for a 7-3 victory to complete the sweep. Kossuth advances to a quarterfinal matchup with North Pontotoc.
“We played well at times,” coach Thomas said of a season that saw the Lady Chargers win Region 3-3A with an 8-0 record. “It was hard for us to get in a rhythm because of rainouts. Also, it took awhile for all of the girls to get outside because of other sports.”
Several key players were late joining the team because they were members of the Lady Charger basketball team that reached the state quarterfinals.
Kossuth hit the ball well in the Lady Aggies' 16-6 win, Thomas said. “They got at us early.”
Doubles by Shakeria Smith, Allie Brown and Thomas and a single by Ayana Taylor gave Choctaw County a short-lived 3-0 lead in the second game.
Brown closed out an outstanding high school athletic career – she was also a key player of the volleyball team that reached the second round of the playoffs last fall – by going three for four in both playoff games. She was the Lady Chargers' leading hitter with a .458 average, five doubles, one triple, a homer, 17 RBIs and 25 runs scores.
Thomas batted .417 and on the mound she had a 5-4 record, fanned 48 and allowed 32 hits in 41 innings. Taylor batted .400 and Smith .383. Thomas, Taylor and Smith are also seniors.
With the loss of six seniors from the starting lineup, the Lady Chargers will be much younger next year, and will have a new coach. Thomas took the job on an interim basis after long time coach Mike Brown stepped down.
“We will have maybe two or three experienced girls, but the rest will be brand new faces,” Thomas said.
Four players to build around are sophomores Caden Miles and Sierra Jones and a couple of seventh graders, Makenzie Sanders and Molly Thomas, Lizzie's sister. Molly Thomas was 2-0 with a 2.33 ERA. She allowed 11 hits and struck out 13 in 15 innings.
