By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

OCEAN SPRINGS — The Ocean Springs Lady Greyhounds are in the first-ever Class 7A South State championship series.

And the three game series with a trip to the overall state finals in Hattiesburg begins Wednesday night on the road at Northwest Rankin.

Ocean Springs held off Petal 6-2 in game three of that Class 7A South State semifinal series Monday night to advance and move on. It marked the second consecutive round in which the Lady Greyhounds staved off an opponent from the Hattiesburg area after dispatching Oak Grove in the opening playoff series the week before also in three games.

The home-field advantage was key in the decisive game three in both cases for OSHS.

“Winning our division was so important this year because it gave us home field advantage for a game three which we needed in both rounds,” Lady Greyhound head coach Lindsay O’Brien, who has her squad at 20-6-1 overall, said. “We did not play well on the road in both series but I knew playing game three back at home would make the difference and it did.”

The Lady Greyhounds opened the series against Petal with a big 11-5 win over the Lady Panthers Friday night at home as well.

Kerrigan Scott and Farrah James each had a triple for OSHS, while Brooklyn Peterson, Presley Newport and Caitlyn Ludwig each had a double in the winning effort. James had a game-high three hits and drove in a pair of runs, while Newport had two hits and drove in a game-high three RBIs. Peterson and Scott also had two hits apiece for the Lady Rebels.

Peterson went the distance on the mound to pick up the win, striking out six.

Petal then took a 10-0 win at home on Saturday to set up the crucial game three.

And in that one, the Lady Greyhounds overcame an early one run deficit with a three run rally in the bottom of the second stanza. Ocean Springs then put the game away by scoring three more runs in the sixth inning to make it 6-1 and cruise on home.

Peterson again picked up the pitching win.

Gracie McDonald and Scott each had two hits apiece in the win for OSHS, while K’Lee Gum drove in a game-high two runs. James posted a double, while she, McDonald and Scott all drove in runs as well.

“I could not be prouder how my girls have fought throughout the season,” O’Brien added. “They play for each other and every single player from JV to varsity has been instrumental in our success.”

The task now becomes a little more daunting, as NWR has been ranked as the top team in the state all season long and stands a perfect 30-0 at this point.

“We are ready for south state and we are going in with no pressure,” O’Brien concluded. “I told them to play at our pace and to have fun. Northwest Rankin has a solid program from top to bottom, but it is the playoffs and anything can happen.”