The Winona Christian Lady Stars finished second in the North 4A state tournament this past week.
The Lady Stars opened with a 19-4 win over Oak Hill and then beat Lee Academy 12-1 on Saturday. In the winner’s bracket, Winona fell 11-1 to Marshall. In an elimination game, the Stars beat North Delta 3-2 before eventually falling to Marshall 16-2 in the finals.
Winona Christian, now 19-11 on the season, advances to the Class 4A state Tournament this weekend at the Magee Sportsplex where they will play Centreville, the South No. 3 in a 1 p.m. contest.
Marshall 16, Winona Christian 2
The Lady Stars grabbed an early lead but a strong Marshall offense pulled away to give the Lady Patriots the North Half title.
Winona scored two in the first before Marshall responded with one in the first, six in the second, two in the third and seven in the fourth.
Marshall outhit Winona 14-5 in the contest. Miranda McDaniel was 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI. Sara Rawles doubled, drove in a run and also scored while Lennie Wood singled and scored.
Allie Rawles started and pitched 1 2/3 innings as she gave up seven runs on seven hits while Brantley Stanford pitched 2 1/3 innings and gave up nine runs on seven hits while walking six.
Winona Christian 3, North Delta 2
The Lady Stars scored in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Lady Wave and advance to the championship game out of the loser’s bracket.
Winona scored two in the second to open the game while North Delta scored one in the fourth and sixth to tie the game. In the ninth, Sara Rawles singled in Lennie Wood to give the Lady Stars the win.
North Delta outhit Winona 6-5 in the contest. Rawles was 2-for-4 awhile Wood singled and drove in two runs. Kaylah Varnes and Allie Leach each singled.
Rawles pitched all eight innings and gave up two runs on six hits and three walks while striking out four.
Marshall 11, Winona Christian 1
After three scoreless innings, the Lady Patriots pulled away to take a six-inning, run-rule win in the winner’s bracket on Saturday.
Marshall scored one in the fourth, four in the fifth and six in the sixth while Winona scored one in the sixth.
Winona had just one hit, committed four errors and issued five walks. Allie Leach had Winona only hit while Lennie Wood scored their only run.
Sara Rawles started and pitched 4 1/3 innings and gave up four runs on one hit while striking out three. Brantley Stanford pitched one inning and gave up seven runs on three hits and four walks.
Winona Christian 19, Oak Hill 4
The Lady Stars used three big innings and took a 15-run win over the Lady Raiders on Saturday to open the North 3A Tournament.
Winona scored seven in the second, four in the third and eight in the fourth.
Winona only had six hits but took advantage of 10 errors and nine walks.
Kaylah Varnes walked three times and scored three runs. Allie Leach scored two runs and had four RBIs. Hillary Beckwith walked twice, had two RBIs and scored two runs while Allie Rawles, Joeley Beckwith and Katy Ware each scored three runs apiece.
Sara Rawles started and pitched four innings and gave up two unearned runs o three hits and three walks while striking out five. Allie Rawles pitched one inning and gave up two runs on two hits.
Winona Christian 12, Lee 1
The Lady Stars broke open a close game with a six-run fourth inning and took a run-rule win over the Lady Colts.
Lee scored one in the top of the fourth before Winona answered with six in the fourth, four in the fifth and two in the sixth.
Winona had seven hits in the contest. Joeley Beckwith tripled and drove in three runs while Miranda McDaniel doubled, scored two runs and had two RBIs. Terri Cain and Allie Rawles each doubled and scored two runs. Kaylah Varnes also scored two runs.
Sara Rawles pitched all six innings to pick up the win and gave up one run on one hit while striking out nine.
