By Stan Caldwell/Sports Writer

HATTIESBURG — There are a lot of words to describe what happened to St. Patrick in the opening game of the Class 3A Softball State Championship Series, and none of them are good.

North Half champion Mantachie showed the Fighting Irish no mercy in a 13-0 victory in five innings Wednesday morning at the Southern Miss Softball Complex, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three game series.

The Mustangs (33-5) can clinch the state title with a win in Game 2 of the series at noon Thursday. St. Pat (23-13) must win to force a third game either Friday or Saturday.

“We’re very young and I think nerves played a big part today,” said St. Patrick coach Ted Williams. “We just didn’t start off very well. Hopefully, tomorrow’s game will be a little better.”

The carnage began right from the get-go for the Irish, as Mantachie put up a pair of runs in the top of the first inning.

Sophomore Allie Ensey, who came into the series batting .581, stroked a leadoff double off St. Patrick senior right-hander Allee Bennett (11-6). 

Senior Ramsey Montgomery hit a flare into rightfield that was booted for an error, and another error was committed when the throw was dropped that would have retired Ensey at third base. Junior Lillianna Cates got both runs home with a double to left.

In all, St. Patrick committed five errors, as only five of the Mustangs 13 runs were earned.

“I told the girls before the game that the that would win would be the team that didn’t make errors,” said Williams. “And we made too many today. You can’t win making errors.”

Williams has guided the Fighting Irish into the state finals for the first time since 2018 with a team that has just three seniors and two juniors, but six middle-schoolers and six freshmen.

“This is the first time our girls have been in it in a long time,” said Williams. “We’re really young. We’ve got two eighth-graders starting, we’ve got two freshmen starting and the second pitcher we brought in was a seventh-grader.”

Mantachie added two more runs with one swing of the bat of Ensey. Bennett got three straight outs to get out any more trouble in the first, and got two outs in the second, with the second out coming on a force after a one-out walk.

But the left-hand hitting Ensey ripped a 1-0 pitch way over the rightfield fence for a two-run home run and a 4-0 lead.

That was more run support than Montgomery needed. A right-hander who is Mantachie’s only pitcher, Montgomery did not allow a hit, struck out six and walked two.

The Irish went down in order in the first, then wasted a leadoff walk in the second when the runner was picked off first on a strikeout. 

St. Pat got two runners on in the third with an error in the outfield and a walk, but got nothing else going, then eighth-grader Sophia Oehms got a two-base error to lead off the fifth, and got to third on a passed ball, but Montgomery got a popup for the third out.

That brought the game to an end on the mercy rule after the Mustangs broke the game open with three runs in the fourth and six runs in the fifth. 

The coup de grace was applied in the fifth, when junior Allysa Gray smoked a 1-1 pitch from seventh-grade reliever Annalie Howard over the leftfield fence for a grand slam after the Mustangs had already padded a 7-0 lead with a pair of runs.

Williams said he has some options on who will pitch for the Fighting Irish Thursday with their season on the line, but had made no decision on who that person will be.

“That’s a good question,” Williams said. “Hopefully, the girls can forget this and come back tomorrow and play like we’re capable of playing, maybe make it a better game.”