RYC Pascagoula - Moss Point

Softball: Pascagoula survives against West Jones, advances in 5A playoffs

Jenny Tillman and Pascagoula held on to beat West Jones in three games in the 5A softball playoffs Tuesday. (File/Joshua Dahl, GulfLive.com correspondent)

PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- One long night led to another for the Pascagoula softball team, but the Panthers had enough energy Tuesday to power their way into the second round of the 5A playoffs.
After arriving home late Monday following their Game 1 victory at West Jones, the Panthers sleepwalked to a 9-7 loss in Game 2 Tuesday. In the deciding game, however, Pascagoula pounded out 16 hits to win 11-6 and advance to a second-round series with Picayune.
"We were tired," Pascagoula coach Shelley Silvas said. "We got back late (Monday) night after traveling two-and-a-half hours, and then had to go to school all day. Then we started playing at five o'clock. I just don't think they had the energy for it.
"But then they realized that we could be put out (of the playoffs), and they woke up and pulled through."
Pascagoula (15-13) trailed 4-0 after the top of the first in the Game 3, but tied the scored on Jaylin Cherry's two-run triple in the bottom of the second. Rydreka Weathersby's two-run double keyed a three-run fourth to give the Panthers the lead for good at 7-4.
Savannah Lyon's two-run homer pulled West Jones (6-20) back within one in the fifth, but Pascagoula got three more in the fifth and one in the sixth to close out the game. Senior pitcher Jenny Tillman allowed just six hits, only three after the first inning.
"Jenny really pulled through," Silvas said. "She was much better than what she's looked in some previous games."
Pascagoula leadoff hitter Akeyla Thomas scored all four times she came to the plate in Game 3, and joined Cherry and Hannah Hembree with three hits each. Cherry knocked in four, while Hembree drove home three and Weathersby two.
The Panthers totaled 29 hits in the two games, six by Cherry, five by Hembree and five by Alora Houston. Hembree and Cherry drove home five each.
West Jones jumped out to an early lead in Tuesday's early game, the big blow a two-run double by Cheyenne Eastering to put the Mustangs up 5-1 in the third. Easterling's RBI single in the fifth gave West Jones the lead for good.
Carlea Sumrall was the Mustangs' top hitter, going 4-for-8 with two RBIs. Lyon scored four runs and drove home three.
Pascagoula and Picayune will meet Friday and Saturday, with times and sites to-be-determined.