POPLARVILLE, Miss. — Ana-Grace Garcia and Jaycee Holifield made sure the No. 1 Pearl River softball team got the last word Tuesday night in a marquee matchup against No. 3 Copiah-Lincoln.

After dropping the opener, Pearl River answered with a 5-4, eight-inning win behind a dominant relief outing from Garcia and a walk-off swing from Holifield.

"This team has showed it day in and day out. It's resilience in everything that they do," head coach Christie Meeks said. "We never gave up in game one and I let them know that. I told them they could continue to do great things and that's what happened in game two. All of these girls have a lot of fire and passion. We've got continue to guide that and explode when we have the opportunities."

GAME ONE
Pearl River (26-4; 10-2 MACCC) fell into an early deficit against Copiah-Lincoln (32-3; 13-1), trailing 6-0 midway through the third inning.

The Wildcats responded in the bottom half as Emmaleigh Theriot (Prairieville, La.; St. Amant) and Taylor Foster (Petal) drew leadoff walks. Kai Goodman (New Orleans, La.; John Curtis) followed with an RBI single, and Natalee Eaves (Louisville; Choctaw Central) added a bases-loaded walk to make it 6-2.

After the Wolves extended the lead to 7-2, Ana-Grace Garcia (Baton Rouge, La.; St. Joseph's) returned to the circle and steadied things, keeping Copiah-Lincoln off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

Anastasia Acree (Mobile, Ala.; Alma Bryant) provided a spark in the sixth with a solo home run to center, but Pearl River couldn't complete the comeback, falling 7-3.

Garcia struck out eight over 5 1/3 innings. Teegan DeWitt (Pass Christian; Hancock) added two strikeouts in relief. Goodman, Eaves, Acree and Maeli Ben (Conehatta; Newton County) recorded hits.

GAME TWO

Pearl River wasted no time bringing the energy in game two.

With Addy Grace Alexander (Poplarville) aboard, Eaves delivered an RBI double off the wall to open the scoring. After Copiah-Lincoln answered to tie the game, the Wildcats quickly swung momentum back in their favor.

Ben led off the second inning with a double, and Foster delivered the biggest swing of her career — a two-run home run to left field that gave Pearl River a 3-1 advantage.

Copiah-Lincoln responded with three runs in the third to reclaim a 4-3 lead, forcing Pearl River to turn to its ace. Garcia delivered.

After allowing an inherited runner to score, Garcia settled in and turned in a dominant relief performance. Over six innings, she allowed just two hits and struck out 13 to keep the Wildcats within striking distance.

"Props to them because they are really good offensively," Garcia said. "I had to play chess with them and use everything in the arsenal to keep them off guard."

Pearl River evened the score in the fifth when Shania Fondren (Batesville; South Panola) came around to score on an RBI single from Eaves, making it 4-4.

From there, Garcia continued to deal and gave Pearl River a chance late. The Wolves nearly broke through on Garcia, if not for a stellar play from Eaves. The center fielder ranged far against the wall and made a leaping catch to keep the Wolves from extra-bases and the go-ahead run.

The Wildcats capitalized in the eighth. Zion Seals (Shannon; Nettleton) was hit by a pitch to begin the inning, but a double play quickly left Pearl River down to its final out. That brought up Jaycee Holifield (Laurel; Stringer), who had struck out in each of her first three at-bats.

She didn't miss the fourth opportunity. Holifield crushed a 2-2 pitch over the center field wall for a walk-off home run, lifting Pearl River to a 5-4 victory.

"The game will find you," Holifield said. "I had struggled in my earlier at-bats, but I kept it simple and got a good pitch to hit."

Garcia earned the win with six innings of relief, striking out 13. Eaves and Foster each drove in two runs, while Alexander drew two walks.

NEXT UP
Pearl River hits the road Friday for another ranked matchup, taking on No. 14 Itawamba. The doubleheader will be livestreamed at LetsGoICCTV.com.

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