MGCCC softball takes 2009 Region 23 Title

The 20009 Region 23 Champions.

Lady Bulldogs come from behind to beat LSU-Eunice 5-4

CLINTON---Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College was already assured of a trip to the NJCAA National Tournament by virtue of making it to the championship round of the Region 23 Tournament in Clinton.

But this team wanted more, and it got it Saturday with a thrilling 5-4 come-from-behind win over No. 6 LSU-Eunice. The Lady Bulldogs (25-10) earn their second Region 23 Title in three years under head coach Kenneth Long.

“We weren’t expected to do that well this year,” Long said, “and that’s what makes this win even more special.”

Gulf Coast was down 4-2 to the Lady Bengals heading into the bottom of the 6th when catcher Sarah Smaltz belted her 13th homerun of the season to cut the lead to one.

In the 7th, lead-off batter Tiffany Fuller walked to bring up Holly Lawrence, The sophomore from D’Iberville who leads the team with a .432 batting average, ripped a shot to the fence allowing Fuller to score all the way from first to tie the game at 4-4. Julie Mercer then cmae up and her hot shot to the shortstop bounced into center field and Lawrence beat the throw home to complete the comeback. It’s the second time in three days that Gulf Coast has defeated LSU-E, which featured three players with more than 10 homers this season.

“I told them before the last inning that we were going to win this,” Long added. “The momentum shifted when Fuller walked. There was no question that I was going to send Lawrence home to try and score the winning run.”

LSU-E led early 2-0 before a bases loaded single by Cassie Slaton tied the game at 2-2. The Lady Bengals then re-gained the lead on a two-run homer in the 5th.

Gulf Coast pitcher Brandi Westerfield (11-5) got the win in the circle for Gulf Coast, which has won seven out of its last eight games.

“This team has played hard and kept fighting all year,” said Long, who was named 2009 Region 23 Coach of the Year.