MGCCC Lady Bulldogs advance at Region 23 Tourney

MGCCC head coach Kenneth Long (left) congratulates Megan Colvin after a solo home run in a 2-0 win over Co-Lin at the Region 23 Tournament in Clinton.

Long gets 300th career victory in win over Pearl River

CLINTON---Two wins and a personal milestone for Kenneth Long highlighted the first day of the 2010 Region 23 Tournament for Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. The Lady Bulldogs (35-13) defeated Co-Lin 2-0 and archrival Pearl River 4-1 Thursday to advance to a winner’s bracket showdown Friday at Noon against East Central.

“Championship teams do what we did today,” said Gulf Coast head coach Kenneth Long, who notched his 300th career victory in nine seasons at Gulf Coast with the win over Pearl River. “All wins are special, but to get number 300 at the Region 23 Tournament is especially memorable. The credit goes to all the great athletes who’ve played at Gulf Coast.”

Tiffany Fuller delivers against Pearl River in a 4-3 victory at the Region 23 Tournament in Clinton.

The Lady Bulldogs, the defending Region 23 Champions, opened the 2010 tournament by defeating Co-Lin 2-0 behind a shutout performance by seldom used pitcher Bayleigh Babin. The freshman from Long Beach (3-1) only gave up three hits while striking out three and walking one. Megan Colvin’s fourth inning solo homer and an RBI single by Courtney Fairley were all Gulf Coast needed to take the victory.

Against Pearl River, who beat Gulf Coast 7-0 six days earlier at the MACJC State Tournament, Long called on sophomore Tiffany Fuller to pitch despite the fact that she hadn’t entered the circle at all during the 2010 campaign. All Fuller did was go the distance, giving up one run on eight hits while walking three and striking out two. One of those strikeouts came with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 5th inning.

On offense, the Lady Bulldogs cranked out 12 hits…including three singles by Julie Mercer, two from Sarah Smaltz, and a single and a solo homerun by Mariah Partman in the top of the sixth inning.

The victory over Pearl River (30-19) is the fifth in six games by the Lady Bulldogs over their archrivals this year. It also dropped the Lady Wildcats into a 10 a.m. loser’s bracket game with Itawamba. The other loser’s bracket contest features #1 ranked LSU-Eunice and Co-Lin.

Meanwhile Gulf Coast takes on East Central at Noon with the winner advancing to the Championship game Saturday at 1 p.m.