By STAN CALDWELL/Sports Writer

HATTIESBURG — In the end, the East Central bats were simply too much for Lafayette.

For the second day in a row, the Hornets put up 10 runs, battling past the Commodores 10-6 in Game 2 of the Class 5A State Championship Series Wednesday afternoon at the Southern Miss Softball Complex.

The victory gave East Central (30-7) its seventh state championship in fast-pitch, but the first since 2009. Lafayette finished 25-9.

“It’s unbelievable; I don’t know if it’s even kicked in yet,” said East Central coach Gerald Edmunson, who is in his fourth season as head coach after taking over for longtime coach Kyle Long in 2022.

“We’ve been really close the last five years, so to finally get over that hump is sweet. We’ve been on the other end of it so many times. We’ve got so many silver necklaces, and we were finally able to get a gold one.”

This as a long time coming for the Hornets, who had come up short in the state finals in four of the past five seasons, missing out on the finals in 2023 after losing to George County in the 5A South State finals.

“Yes, we came up short quite a few times, but this year, it was just me and my girls,” said senior Chloe Sheppard, who reached base on her first three at-bats and scored all three times out of the leadoff position in the batting order.

“We did it all for us, not for the past. We had doubts along the way, but we stayed together and got the job done.”

This was a highly entertaining contest that saw the two teams trade haymakers until EC erupted for six runs in the fourth inning to take command, knocking out Lafayette ace Mabry Eason in the process.

“When you’re able to get to the 5A Player of the Year, not once, but twice, that speaks volumes about our approach and how locked in our girls were yesterday and today,” said Edmunson.

“We had heard that she can get a little erratic. So I said we’re going to take until we get a strike, then we’re going to attack and it worked well for us. We got a lot of walks and got in some favorable pitch counts where they had to come across the white.”

Each team brought their leadoff batter around to score in the first inning, and in the case of the Commodores, it was a slow trot around the bases after senior Mabry Eason sent the third pitch of the game from senior Breyona Tanner over the fence in straightaway centerfield.

Tanner (11-0) went four innings, allowing five runs, three of them earned. She scattered seven hits and walked three.

“Man, I was struggling to begin with,” said Tanner. “My screwball was probably working best for me, but it wasn’t the best day I’ve had pitching. I just tried to work through it the best I could.”

The Hornets responded in the bottom of the first, when senior Chloe Sheppard led off with a single to right, took second on a passed ball, went to third on a groundout to shortstop and scored on a bloop single to left from senior Kaylee Lawson.

But Lafayette quickly regained the lead in the top of the second with a pair of runs, with the help of an error and wild pitch.

Freshman Jenny Dreher smacked a one-out double to right-centerfield and went to third on a flyout to right.

Senior Zanieya Booker followed with an RBI double just inside the bag at third base, and she came around to score on a wild pitch after the inning was extended with an error.

Lafayette got away with an error in the bottom of the second, but not the third, as a miscue in the infield contributes to a two-run Hornet rally that tied the game 3-3

Sheppard led off the inning with a walk, a wild pitch and the error off the bat of Tanner got her to third, and she scored on an RBI single by junior Abigail Danis.

Freshman Lauren Pinkston, running for Tanner, stole second, went to third on Danis’ single and scored on a sacrifice fly by senior Elizabeth Kennedy.

“They don’t stop,” said Edmunson. “They went up, we come back. They go up 3-1 and we get shutout the next inning. I just told them to keep their heads up. It’s a long game, and you can hit this girl.”

The Commodores regained the lead again in the next half-inning with a pair of runs, taking a 5-3 lead, and this time it was a Hornet error that played a pivotal role.

Booker led off with a walk, then a single sent her to second. Sophomore Sydney Cregar drove in the first run with a single, and an error in the outfield allowed her to take second. A flyout moved Cregar to third and she scored on a sacrifice fly to right.

But that’s when the game turned completely around in East Central’s favor.

Junior Valerie Merrill got it started with a leadoff single up the middle, and that brought a pitching change, with Cregar coming on to pitch.

But she had trouble finding the strike zone, walking the first two batters she faced. The second was erased on a force out at second by Sheppard, who went to second on a bad relay on the double-play attempt and two runs scored.

Tanner followed and blasted a gapper to left-centerfield for a double to score Sheppard, then senior Kaylee Lawson walked, and both runners came home on a titanic rocket off the bat of junior Abigail Danis for a three-run home run.

“I don’t know how far it went, but it was the furthest I’ve seen a ball hit out of here, and I’ve seen a lot of them here,” said Edmunson. “It was way out there.”

The Commodores used all three of their pitchers in a futile effort to stem the tide. Freshman Jenny Dreher came on after Tanner’s double, but only got one out against five batters, and Lafayette was forced to bring Eason back to pitch.

“When you get up there you really can’t think; you have to not swing for yourself, but for the team,” said Sheppard. “I had to learn that throughout the season.

“We definitely did intimidate them. After the next two pitchers, they had to come back with the first girl. We just got on her.”

Danis came on to pitch the fifth inning, and went the final three innings, allowing a run on three hits. She had a strikeout and did not surrender a walk.

“I told Coach I felt off,” said Tanner. “I just told him don’t feel bad about putting Abbie D. in. She pitched yesterday and did a heck of a job. I just wanted to give some confidence in the move and give her some confidence when she went in.”

Lafayette briefly got its hopes up in the top of the seventh with a one-out mini-rally, scoring its final run of the game. Senior Mary Kelley doubled off the wall in left-centerfield and scored on the next pitch, a single buy senior Zoie Woolfolk.

But two flyouts ended the Commodores’ hopes and their season.

“We tried to have a good approach at the plate,” said Danis. “We felt comfortable at the plate whole game. At first our bats weren’t too strong, but we started seeing the ball really well.

“I am so proud of this team. It’s so hard to get here, and it takes a team effort to get here and win it.”

East Central graduated a sterling senior class last year, so the Hornets weren’t counted among the top contenders in 5A coming into this season.

“We lost so many great players from last year who are playing at the next level,” said Edmunson. “So there weren’t too many people outside our locker room that thought we even had a chance to come back here.

“Sometimes, you might not have as much talent as other years, but these girls’ grit and determination, and the way they came together this year was amazing to see. I can’t say enough good things about them.”