The Carmi-White County Lady Bullpups hosted Mt. Carmel at Archie Brown Field on Saturday for the SIJHSAA regional championship, looking to punch their ticket to the state tournament.
After falling behind early, the Lady Bullpups battled back with eight unanswered runs over the middle innings before holding off a late Mt. Carmel rally to earn a 10-5 victory and their second regional championship in the last three seasons.
Mt. Carmel got on the scoreboard first, scoring twice in the top of the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead.
The Lady Aces held onto that advantage until the fourth inning, when they added another run to make it 3-0.
Carmi finally got its offense going in the bottom half of the fourth.
Alyss Courson and Auna Goff opened the inning with back-to-back singles, giving the Lady Bullpups a pair of runners on base. Courson would come around to score when Emma Ricketts reached on an error, cutting the deficit to 3-1.
Goff then came across to score on a sacrifice fly from Sophia Jamison, making it a 3-2 game.
The Lady Bullpups weren’t finished.
Kai Wiggins came through with an RBI single to bring home Ricketts and tie the game at 3-3.
Carmi then took its first lead of the afternoon when Cabella Emery ripped an RBI double into left field, scoring Wiggins and Aniyah Huff to put the Lady Bullpups in front 5-3.
Carmi continued to add to its lead in the fifth inning.
Ricketts reached on another Mt. Carmel error, allowing Courson to score and making it 6-3. Goff would then score on an RBI groundout by Jamison before Ricketts came home on an RBI groundout from Wiggins.
By the end of the inning, the Lady Bullpups had scored three more runs and built an 8-3 advantage.
Carmi added two more insurance runs in the sixth.
Courson delivered another big hit, driving in Emery with an RBI single. Courson would eventually come all the way around to score after Mt. Carmel committed its fifth error of the game, extending the Carmi lead to 10-3 heading into the seventh.
The Lady Aces scored twice in the top of the seventh inning, but the Lady Bullpups were able to close the door and secure the 10-5 victory.
Emery earned the win in the circle, pitching all seven innings. She allowed five runs on 10 hits while striking out four.
At the plate,
Mollie Burnett: 1-for-3
Alyss Courson: 2-for-4, RBI, 3 R
Auna Goff: 2-for-4, 2 R
Emma Ricketts: 0-for-2, 2 BB, 2 RBI, 2 R
Sophia Jamison: 0-for-3, 2 RBI
Kai Wiggins: 1-for-3, 2 RBI, R
Aniyah Huff: 0-for-2, BB, R
Cabella Emery: 2-for-2, 2 RBI, BB, R
The win gives Carmi their second regional championship in the last three seasons. The Lady Bullpups advance to the SIJHSAA State Tournament where they will face Harrisburg on Saturday at 1:30 PM at the Oasis Sports Complex in Marion.