No. 3 MGCCC heads into stacked MACCC Tourney

PERKINSTON — To say the field in the MACCC Championship tournament this week in Fulton is loaded doesn't even come close to reflecting the strength of the field.

The top four seeds in the tournament, including No. 3 Mississippi Gulf Coast, are in the NJCAA Division II top 10. Another team in the top 20, No. 16 Holmes, didn't even make the field. 

"We had a meeting of our coaches brought up the fact that there's so many Mississippi schools in the top-5, top-20, it's unbelievable," Gulf Coast coach Kenneth Long said. "This conference is really tough. There's good coaches, and they recruit good players."

The second-seeded Bulldogs (28-10, 24-4 MACCC) play their first game in the eight-team, double-elimination tournament Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. They'll play seventh-seeded Northwest Mississippi (18-14, 15-13) in the event being hosted by No. 2 Itawamba, which won the conference regular-season race. All games will be streamed at https://letsgoicctv.com/red/.

No. 6 Jones and No. 9 Copiah-Lincoln are also in the field. Northwest split with Co-Lin its final MACCC doubleheader to clinch a postseason berth, and the Rangers have won four of their last five.

"They're playing really well right now," Long said. "Their hitting stats are really good. I think they're one of the hotter teams in the state right now."

The Bulldogs recovered from a wobble that saw them lose twice at Itawamba last month to win their last six games, including a crucial sweep of Co-Lin.

One of the sparks for the late-season surge has been the right arm of Emaleigh Coates (Fr., Lucedale/George County). She's 5-1 with a save in her last seven appearances, with a 1.08 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 39 innings.

That's helped solidify the Bulldogs' pitching staff, and Rakeya Travis (So., Poplarville/Poplarville) continues to be a dominant force in the middle of the lineup. She's hitting .464 with 14 homers and 56 RBI, and everybody knows it.

"Rakeya never gets good pitches," Long said. "Nobody gives her anything to hit, and just look at her batting average and home runs. You tend to overlook that sometimes. She's really playing well and has been solid all year."

K.K. Agner (Fr., Horn Lake/Magnolia Heights) has hit 13 home runs batting behind her to provide protection with a .445 average.

Gulf Coast continues to get strong outfield play from Caroline Moore (So., Maryville, Tenn./Maryville), Alexis Laughlin (So., Hurley/East Central) and Sarah Brannan (So., Enterprise/Enterprise). The first two have been at the top of the batting order, and Brannan has five home runs while usually in the nine-hole.

MACCC Softball Championship

Fulton

Wednesday, May 5

Game 1: No. 6 Northeast vs. No. 3 Jones, noon

Game 2: No. 7 Northwest vs. No. 2 Gulf Coast, 2:30 pm

Game 3: No. 8 Hinds vs. No. 1 Itawamba, 5 pm

Game 4: No. 5 Pearl River vs. No. 4 Copiah-Lincoln, 7:30 pm

Thursday, May 6

Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, noon (Elimination game)

Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 2:30 pm (Elimination game)

Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 5 pm

Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 7:30 pm

Friday, May 7

Game 9: Loser Game 8 vs. Winner Game 5, noon (Elimination game)

Game 10: Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 6, 2:30 pm (Elimination game)

Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 5 pm

Game 12: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 7:30 pm (Elimination game)

Saturday, May 8

Game 13: Loser Game 11 vs. Winner Game 13, 1 pm (Elimination game)

Game 14: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 13, 3:30 pm

Game 15: Winner Game 14 vs. Loser Game 14, 6 pm, if necessary

For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.