Lady Bulldogs open MACJC State Tournament play Thursday versus Jones County in Perkinston

GOODMAN --- The Holmes Community College Lady Bulldogs picked up a huge split with East Mississippi Community College here Tuesday afternoon winning game one 2-1 and losing game two, 4-1 in the regular season finale. The win leaves the Lady Bulldogs in third place in the North Division. The Lady Bulldogs will be the No. 3 seed from the North Division and will play the South Division No. 2 seed Jones County Junior College Lady Bobcats on Thursday in Perkinston at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.

The Lady Bulldogs went to 19-25 overall and 15-9 in the North Division with the split.

In game one against East on Tuesday, Charneissa Gordon got a huge two-run RBI single in the third inning to put the Lady Bulldogs up 2-1 at that point. Kelsey Marter cruised after that point behind a strong Lady Bulldog defense and picked up the win. Marter threw seven innings gave up one run on three hits and struck out three. Keana Wash and Karina Brown also picked up hits in the game.

In game two, Katie Johnston suffered the loss throwing three innings giving up four runs on six hits. Marter threw the remaining four innings and gave up no runs and no hits striking out five. Gordon, Brown and Alecia McDaniel picked up one hit each in game two.

Lady Bulldog Head Coach Ricky Casey said the Lady Bulldogs were pumped up for their game against East Mississippi because they knew they had to win both or at least to get into the tournament.

"Well we knew going in we were looking for at least a split," Casey said. "If we got swept, we wouldn't make the playoffs. We said going in we would have to play good defense, get good pitching and it would have to be a low scoring game for us to compete. That's the way it is all year. We are not going to score a lot of runs. We have to depend on our pitching and defense.  Fortunately, it's done well for us. "

Casey said the team is excited about the opportunity to play in the MACJC State Tournament. "It hasn't happened many times at Holmes," Casey said. "It's something to be really proud of. I felt the first of the year we had a really good team, but we didn't play well early. We really got better toward the end of the year."

He said the North Division was very tough this year with Holmes, Northwest and Northeast, all finishing 15-9 in the division. "Playing those 24 division games, everyone means something," Casey said. "We got ourselves in a whole when we lost our first four division games. It's that way every year. It doesn't take much to win or lose ballgames, whether it's a single pitch, a single at bat or a single defensive play decides a lot of ballgames. They are all so close."

Kelsey Marter of Grenada has been solid on the mound for the Lady Bulldogs this season as well as last season. Marter finished the regular season 13-9 and a 1.69 ERA. "Kelsey has done a great job for us," Casey said. "She set a record for the number of wins this year. She's so consistent with her pitching. She hits spots and changes speeds so well makes her so effective. She frustrated East Miss. She wouldn't give them anything to hit."

Gordon has been solid at the plate this season and is batting .323 going into the tournament.  "We got a good jump on that," Casey said of Gordon's key hit against East Mississippi. " She has made great plays for us this year. She has a great attitude and works hard. She always has a smile on her face.  She plays the hole well and guards the line. We pitch and make the balls go where we want them to go."

Jones has over 30 wins this season, and they defeated the Lady Bulldogs twice in the early season in Goodman, 4-0 and 12-0. "We know they are great," Casey said. "They are going to be hard to beat. Our formula is the same.  If that happens for us we are going to be in the ballgame. If we can get a break or two you'll never know what will happen.

"We are better than we were at the first of the year," he added. "We are making better contact and seeing the ball better.  We are excited about the opportunity to play them."