By Stan Caldwell/Staff Writer

SUMRALL — If East Central is to repeat as Class 5A state softball champions, the Hornets will have to do it the hard way.

Sumrall took no prisoners Thursday night in Game 1 of the Class 5A South State finals, rolling to a 10-0 victory in six innings at the Sumrall Sports Complex.

Sumrall (30-5) is one win away from returning to the state finals for the first time since 2022, and can advance with a victory in Game 2 in Hurley.

The Hornets (28-5), who saw their 19-game winning streak come to an end, must win Friday to force a deciding third game Saturday at Sumrall.

“We set big expectations, and we have high standards in our program,” said EC coach Gerald Edmonson. “We absolutely did not live up to those tonight And I had to let them know after the game, that’s not how we play ball at East Central.”

Freshman Emma Pope pitched a one-hit shutout, and senior Kara Applewhite was 4-for-4 at the plate, with five runs-batted-in, including a decisive three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning that gave the Bobcats all the runs they would need.

“I thought we had a good plan, and we executed it well,” said Sumrall head coach Todd Siders. “But at the end of the day, it’s just a win, and we need one more.”

Pope (17-3) didn’t allow her only base hit until two were out in the top of the fifth. She struck out five, walked one and hit a batter. That came in the top of the first after two were out, and she quickly got the third out on a strikeout.

When she went back out to the circle for the second inning, she had a 3-0 lead.

Senior Ella Robertson, the MHSAA Class 5A Miss Softball, sent the first pitch from East Central senior right-hander Abby Danis into leftfield for a double. With a base open, Danis elected to pitch carefully to Bobcat junior Kynnedy Lumpkins and surrendered a four-pitch walk.

Danis got a pop-up and a strikeout, and was one pitch away from getting out of trouble when Applewhite turned on a 3-2 pitch and sent it over the leftfield fence for a home run.

“Kudos to her,” said Edmonson. “It was a full count, she sat back on a 3-2 change-up, and she was able to sit back and drive it. That’s just a great piece of hitting.”

The Hornets got a base-runner with one out in the second on Pope’s only walk, but she got a force-out and a strikeout to end the inning.

Sumrall had chances to add to its lead in the second and fourth innings, but were unable to score, and EC finally broke through in the fifth, when junior Sophie Finch hit an opposite-field double just inside the rightfield line with two out.

But Pope induced a flyout to end the inning, and that’s when the Bobcats put the game into its hip pocket, scoring four runs on five hits in the bottom of the inning.

“The approaches at the plate weren’t what we like to see,” Edmonson said. “We worked on velocity all the time, throwing 65 mph from 35 feet. Then we get up here, and she’s throwing 58 to 61, and we’re behind pitches, we’re not making up our minds about what we want to do.

“She spins a little change-up, then comes hard in, and we’re not ready to get our feet down to hit it. I preached all week about how your foot has to be down on a hard-in pitch, and we just didn’t do it.”

Sophomore Taniya Preston opened the inning with a single up the middle and stole second on a busted pickoff play. Applewhite drove her in with her third hit of the game, a one-out single to left.

“I told the girls, it should be 3-0, and we have a chance to get back out there and hit,” said Edmonson. “But when you don’t make the routine plays, it really started to put us in a hole.”

Freshman Sarah Beth Lewis singled, but Danis got a pop-up for the second out, and got two strikes on sophomore Kynlee Speed. However, Danis was unable to close out the inning, as Speed smacked a double into left-centerfield, scoring Applewhite and sending Lewis to third.

Junior Ansleigh Whiddon, pinch-hitting for senior Rylee White, delivered a two-run single in to left to give the Bobcats a commanding 7-0 lead.

Pope retired the Hornets in order in the top of the sixth, and that proved to be her last inning, as Sumrall added three more runs in the bottom of the inning to end the game on the mercy rule.

Danis walked Lumpkins to start the bottom of the sixth inning, then gave way to junior Destiny Tolbert. Preston greeted Tolbert with a single, and after a strikeout, Applewhite stroked a run-scoring single into centerfield, taking second on the late throw to the plate.

Lewis sent the next pitch into shallow rightfield for a two-run single to end the game. Danis (16-4) gave up eight runs, all earned, struck out five and walked three.

Siders knows East Central won’t go down without a fight.

“Whether it’s by one run or by 10, we’ve still got to beat them one more time down there,” said Siders. “They’re a fantastic program, with a great coach, so we understand the challenge that’s ahead of us. It’s not going to be easy.”