Jolie Hays strikes out 11 as Northwest Rankin beats Petal 5-0 in 6A MHSAA Softball Playoffs

PETAL – Although she’s only a sophomore, Jolie Hays has been making big pitches for Northwest Rankin softball since seventh grade.

And that experience was on display Thursday night in the first game of the Class 6A South State final series the Petal High softball field. The little lefty scattered four hits and struck out 11 in leading the Cougars to a 5-0 win over Petal.

Northwest Rankin (26-5) can clinch the best-of-three game series when it resumes at 2 p.m. Saturday at Flowood. Petal (22-4) must win to force a deciding third game on Monday back at its home field.

“Early in the season, she was throwing like she did tonight,” said Northwest Rankin coach Mike Armstrong. “Then she broke the little pinkie on her throwing hand and that set her back some, so she’s just now getting in there.

“This is what I expected to see from her. It’s been a few games since she’s pitched that well, but she picked it up at the right time.”

Although Petal coach Wendy Hogue acknowledged the effort by Hays, she was more focused on the mistakes her team made, and there were a lot of them. The Panthers committed six errors, and all five of the Cougars’ runs were unearned.

“I had us with 10 freebies for them,” Hogue said. “That’s errors, then we threw some balls that didn’t need to be thrown, allowed some stolen bases. Then we shot ourselves in the foot. We didn’t run the bases well; we didn’t do enough to win this game.

“I mean, they’re a phenomenal team, but they didn’t have any earned runs. Nobody likes to be taken advantage of. They took advantage of our mistakes, and that’s what good teams do.”

The miscues spoiled a fine effort in the circle from Panther senior Natalie Herrington, who allowed six hits, struck out nine and only walked one.

“I’m always going to give my best for the team,” said Herrington (21-3). “I know they’ll do the same for me.

“The cards just didn’t fall in our favor tonight, but we still have another game. We just have to settle down. Late in the season, we’ve tended to tense up a little bit. It’s mostly mental, so if we can calm ourselves down, and stay within ourselves, we’ll be all right.”

Northwest Rankin got its first run in the top of the first after freshman Brooke Smith blooped a single into shallow leftfield to lead off.

Smith stole second before Herrington got an out on a popped-up bunt back to the circle, but a throwing error put runners at the corners.

Initially, Smith scored when the ball appeared to go into the first-base dugout, but it was ruled that Cougar players outside the dugout prevented the ball from entering the dugout, so the runners were not awarded an extra base on the play.

It turned out to be academic, since the run came in on a ground ball to second. Herrington got out of the inning without further damage, stranding a runner at third.

But for much of the game the Panthers weren’t able to dent the arsenal Hays threw at them. She struck out the side in the bottom of the first and got two more strikeouts in the second in pitching around a one-out walk.

“I really came prepared,” said Hays. “I got a really good rest on the way up here, and it helps me when my teammates are up with me, and they can give me some run support.

“My go-to (pitches) were my screwball and my riseball. Sometimes I would throw my curve, but not very often. Later in the game, I threw a few, but not many.”

The game was delayed an hour because of a brief, but heavy rainstorm that blew through the Pine Belt late Thursday afternoon. Hays said that may have helped her relax some before her start.

“I was a little worried about (the delay) at first,” said Hays. “But it gave us a chance to go over to William Carey and get some good hitting in, and it gave us some time to be together for some bonding before this game.”

The two pitchers settled in for a duel through the middle innings, getting out of what little difficulty they encountered.

The Cougars got runners to second and third with two out in the fourth but came up empty. Herrington smacked a leadoff double in the bottom of the fourth but was thrown out at third on a ground ball to the pitcher.

Hays allowed a walk, one of four she allowed for the game, but got a strikeout to end the inning.

“We knew she was a very good pitcher coming in here,” said Hogue. “But we know that we can hit her, and we know we can string some hits together. Hat’s off to them for doing what they had to do to win the ball game.”

Petal finally got a runner to third in the bottom of the fifth when senior Sarah Barham drew a leadoff walk and was sacrificed to third on successive pitches to Kate Sanford and senior Kinley Hogue. But Hays got a groundout to strand Barham at third.

The rain returned in lighter form than earlier in the afternoon, and that may have contributed to Northwest Rankin breaking the game open with four more unearned runs in the top of the seventh.

“We bunted, and the had a little trouble, with it raining,” said Armstrong. “That made it tough for both sides, on pitchers and defense. Sometimes when you get ahead, it’s easier to do some things.”

Sophomore Madelyn Smith got the rally going with a leadoff single to centerfield. Herrington got one out by catching an abortive bunt attempt, but Hays drew a walk and another throwing error allowed Smith to score from second.

Herrington got the second out on a strikeout, but Sydney Phillips, one of just two seniors on the Cougars’ roster, won an epic plate appearance by smacking the ninth pitch of the at-bat into the gap in left-center for a two-run double.

Another error allowed another run to score, giving Hays plenty of insurance. Petal got two runners on with one out in the bottom of the seventh on a leadoff single by junior BeBe Byrd and a one-out hit by Barham, but a strikeout and a groundout finished it off.

“I think I should be able to throw,” said Hays. “We’ll be at our home field, we’ll have all of our friends and families there to support us, and I think that will make us play even better.”

Game 2 of the series was scheduled to be played on Friday but was moved to Saturday because of Petal’s graduation ceremonies on Friday.

“We’ve talked all season about eliminating distractions,” said Hogue. “Well, graduation can’t be a distraction. Graduation is a pause in our season to celebrate a lot of good things. It’s a big day for seven of our senior players.

“We talked about all 10 of those freebies, we addressed each one, what we’ve got to do better. So we’ve learned from it; now we’ve got to flush it and move on. We’re very thankful for the fact that (playoff) series are best two out of three.”