The Winona slow-pitch softball team will be on the road Saturday for a best-of-three series with Nettleton in the opening round of the Class II payoffs for 3A and 4A schools. Winona finished fourth in Region 2 and Nettleton is the champion of Region 3.
“They’re a powerhouse,” Winona coach Steven Helms said of Nettleton, a long-time power in the sport. “We drew them first. But if you are going to play for the North half, you are going to have to go through them.”
The top three in Region 2 are South Pontotoc, North Pontotoc and Mooreville, with the order determined by games played this week.
In games last week, Winona lost to Mooreville 16-2 and to South Pontotoc 13-1 and 17-1. The first South Pontotoc game was the completion of an earlier game suspended by rain.
Mooreville hit four first inning home runs. “They came at us smoking,” Helms said. “Defensively, we didn’t play bad at all.”
The Lady Tigers had nine hits, including two each by Tommesha Brown and MyCala Helms.
The suspended game with South Pontotoc was 12-1 when halted by rain. “We were way behind the 8-ball,” Helms said.
South Pontotoc needed only two batters for a run that ended the game by the 12-run rule. Winona had four hits, all singles.
In the full game, the Lady Tigers had seven hits, with two each by Helms, Emory Lowery and Katy Kendell Ware.
Coach Helms said South Pontotoc and Nettleton are probably the two best teams in the Class II North half. “South Pontotoc is really good.”
Winona was set to complete the regular season with games against Mooreville and North Pontotoc Monday and Tuesday.
