Skip To Main Content

Southwest Mississippi Community College

Scoreboard

Homerun
Chuck Barnes

Tristan Allen homers twice to lead Southwest to first Playoff win

| By: By Cody Junkin
Southwest Mississippi Softball faced off against the Hinds Eagles on Saturday, May 2nd to kick off the Region 23 Postseason in a game that saw Southwest win 8-6 over Hinds.

Southwest is in the Region 23 Tournament being hosted by Co-Lin in Wesson, Mississippi.

The Lady Bears came in as the lower seed and the visiting team in the opening game of the postseason.

They kicked off the game against Hinds with a huge 4-run first inning with 3 homeruns.

Bailey McLin started things off with a leadoff walk.

After an Allie Ladnier sacrifice to advance McLin, Corin Talbot hit a 2-run homerun to left field to put Southwest up 2-0.

Next, Kate Clements hit a solo shot to center to make the score 3-0 for the Lady Bears.

Following suit, Tristan Allen hit her 19th homerun of the year right after Clements to give Southwest an early 4-0 edge.

Allie Ladnier controlled the mound for the Lady Bears in the first game of the postseason.

After a few scoreless innings and a couple of errors, the Lady Bears found themselves down 4-6 going into the fifth inning.

When a momentum swing was needed, Tristan Allen provided.

A leadoff strikeout led to an Alexis Dejean single and a Kate Clements walk.

With two runners on base and a deficit to erase, Tristan Allen hit her 2nd homerun of the game and 20th of the year to give the Lady Bears a 7-6 lead in the fifth inning.

Southwest tacked on one more run in the sixth inning on an Alexis Dejean single that scored Lauryn Roebuck to push the Lady Bear lead to 8-6.

Allie Ladnier and the defense would go on to hold Hinds scoreless for the final two innings and take home the 8-6 playoff win and the first playoff win in Southwest Softball history.

Ladnier pitched a complete 7.0 innings with 4 strikeouts and only 3 earned runs against the higher ranked Hinds Eagles.

Tristan Allen led the offense with 2 homeruns and 4 RBIs.

Corin Talbot and Kate Clements each added a homerun of their own.

Alexis Dejean also had 2 hits. Jana Phillips, Lauryn Roebuck, and Aubre Martin each had 1 hit.

In addition to Allen's 4 RBIs, Corin Talbot had 2 RBIs while Alexis Dejean and Kate Clements had one apiece.

Lauryn Roebuck had 2 stolen bases in the contest.

Bailey McLin also drew 3 walks.

"I'm feeling excited for the kids. We said all year that we had a team that could play," said Head Coach Shea Johnson, "we came out, we hit the ball early, we hit a boatload of homeruns. I think Allie did a super job in the circle."

"I'm super excited for Southwest, super excited for our program and the direction our program is going. It's been an exciting year, and it's just the culmination," said Coach Johnson.

"I've done this a long time, and it's a great feeling. When I started this, I didn't know if it would go the way it went. Some fifteen years ago I came as an assistant, and Dr. Bishop took a chance on me and we've gotten to where we need to be. I think this sets a precedence. These girls have now set a precedence that 'hey you've been here and you've won now, you know what it's like'. And maybe this gives a burning desire for the next group. I'm looking at commits and signees from all over the place here to watch us," said Coach Johnson when asked what Southwest Softball's first ever playoff win meant to him.

In his tenth season as Head Coach of the Lady Bears, Coach Shea has accomplished what no coach before him has.

"I'm feeling good. We haven't won a playoff game in Southwest history so that's a good feeling," said starting pitcher Allie Ladnier, "very confident going into tomorrow. I'd love another shot at Co-Lin after our last game."

"It's big. We were going into the game knowing that Hinds was ranked higher than us, and that we were kind of the underdogs. And we just came in and came out in the first inning and hit 3 homeruns," said Southwest homerun leader Tristan Allen on being a part of Southwest Softball's first playoff win.

"It's huge. I have been in a pretty bad slump and those two helped me break out of it," said Allen on her 2 homerun and 4 RBI performance against Hinds.

"I think it's really going to be just backing up Allie because she's been really carrying us and leading in the circle. And I feel like it's going to be a lot of adrenaline because they're our rivals, and it's a big game," said Allen on facing Co-Lin in the first round of bracket play.

The Lady Bears move on to the first round of bracket play in the Region 23 Tournament as they take on #1 seed Co-Lin at 3:00 on Sunday, May 3rd.
 
Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Now Playing:

Related Stories