By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

LUCEDALE — The Hancock Lady Hawks are headed to the Class 6A state championship.

The Lady Hawks picked up one of the biggest road wins in the history of their program Saturday afternoon, knocking off George County 4-1 in the third and deciding game of their Class 6A South State championship series.

The win was the second on the road over the home-standing and defending Class 5A state champion Lady Rebels in three days for Hancock, after taking a 3-2 win in the series opener Thursday night.

The Lady Hawks scored single runs in the first, third sixth and seventh innings to secure the win Saturday over its fellow Region 4-6A foe. The teams had split a pair of league games during the regular season.

Hancock jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in that first frame, thanks to an RBI-double by versatile senior standout Brooklyn Cuevas.

But that lead would be short-lived, however. George County bounced right back to knot things up at 1-1 in the bottom of the inning when Aryana Dixon led off with a single, stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball. She then scored on a wild pitch.

But fortunately for Hancock, that would be about as wild as things would get for junior ace pitcher Teegan DeWitt. Dewitt, who also picked up the pitching win in game one, hurled a complete game again scattering just three singles while striking out six and walking none.

She settled down after that bit of a shaky start and didn’t allow another Lady Rebel runner to reach second base over the last six stanzas.

Meanwhile, while she was setting the pace in the circle, her teammates began to help make their reservations in Hattiesburg. Dewitt gave HHS a lead it would never relinquish with a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the top of the third that plated Abigail Carver, who singled to lead off the inning.

Three frames later, with Dewitt still sailing a long in the loop, the Lady Hawks began to stack insurance runs. Taylor Dunbar’s RBI-single in the sixth stanza scored Cuevas after Cuevas punched out a one-out double.

Then in the top of the seventh, Carver ended the scoring with an RBI-single that scored Ashlynn Gaston after Gaston doubled to lead off the stanza.

The Hancock hit parade was led by the contingent of Cuevas, Carver and Brylie Smith, as each had two hits apiece in the game-winning nine hit attack. Both hits for Cuevas were doubles, and Gaston and Dewitt each had a double as well.

Addison Davis worked the first five frames and took the pitching loss for GCHS.

After the Lady Hawks took game one on Thursday, George County bounced back to even up the series at one game apiece on Friday night with a 3-0 win in the Kiln.

George County scored all three runs in the top of the fifth inning to take the win in a series in which the visiting team won all three games. 

Dixon had a key RBI-double for GCHS and Jordyn Bradley added a run-scoring single. Dixon led GCHS offensively with two hits.

Davis went the distance and picked up the win the pitching win.

Gaston posted a double for HHS. Chaley Peterson went the distance in the circle and suffered the loss.

Hancock moves on to face South Panola in the state championship round.