Published: June 20, 2009 11:56 pm      

South sweeps behind ace pitchers in 4A-5A games

DECATUR — The South Class 4A-5A coaches knew they held the upper hand in any arms race Saturday as long as D’Iberville’s Kimi Wagner and East Central’s Linsey Dickerson were on their roster.

The two highly-touted pitchers didn’t disappoint as they allowed only seven hits — all singles — in the South’s 7-3, 3-0 sweep of the North in the Mississippi Association of Coaches Class 4A-5A Fast-pitch All-Star Games at Newton County High School.

Wagner, a Western Kentucky signee, scattered four singles in the opener. She struck out six and walked four. During her senior year, Wagner was 26-4 with 386 strikeouts in 196 innings and had an 0.18 ERA. All three runs scored off her Saturday were unearned as the result of a first inning error.

Dickerson, who recently committed to Nicholls State, was 24-3 in 2009 with an 0.62 ERA and 278 strikeouts in 174 innings. She allowed only three singles in the second game and struck out seven to go with a pair of walks.

“The girls pitched great,” said South coach Kacie Luebbers of Quitman. “Kimi started out the first game in a little trouble, but I think it helped her out in the long run.

“When we met as the selection committee, we knew that we were going to have very strong pitching. We just knew that we were going to have to score some runs to go with them because we knew they were going to do their job.”

The North took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning in the opener as a bases-loaded throwing error by Petal shortstop Nerissa Myers on a ground ball by Madison Central’s Morgan Malone allowed three runs to score. It would be the last time the North crossed the plate in the twinbill.

“It happens sometime, it’s just something you have to deal with,” said Wagner, who is playing with the VooDoo traveling team out of Louisiana this summer.

South MVP Jacki Burri of East Central got one run back with an RBI triple in the bottom of the first. Wagner cut the deficit to 3-2 with an RBI single in the third. The South went up 4-3 with two runs in the fourth with two North errors contributing to its demise.

A three-run fifth broke the game open. Burri had an RBI single, Jordan Adams of D’Iberville had a run-scoring fielder’s choice, and Megan Ladner of Poplarville added a sacrifice fly.

Wagner and Burri both had two of the South’s seven hits.

Neither team scored in the second game until the South got all three of its runs in the top of the sixth. Brianna Cherry of Petal led off with a single, stole second, and scored on a double by Adams. Fielder’s choices by Dickerson and Quitman’s Krystyn Davis plated the second and third runs.

The South had 10 hits with Burri and Adams both getting two. Mallory Pace of Northeast Lauderdale also had a single for the winners.

North MVP Erika Johns of Northwest Rankin had two of the North’s three hits.