Published: June 20, 2009 11:57 pm      

Simcox leads South to split in small-school All-Star games

DECATUR — Southeast Lauderdale’s Lainie Simcox has made a made for herself across the state in slow-pitch softball over the years.

In the Mississippi Association of Coaches Class 1A-2A-3A All-Star Games Saturday at Newton County High School, she extended that reputation to fast-pitch as well.

Simcox went 4-for-6 in the doubleheader to earn Most Valuable Player honors for the South team. She went 3-for-3 with a home run in a 6-3 loss in the opener, then homered again in an 8-3 victory in the second game.

“I hadn’t played any this summer and a lot of these girls have,” said Simcox, who has signed with Pearl River Community College. “I just really wanted to come out here and show college coaches what I’ve got. I got out here and did my best. It was hard playing 14 innings, but I did it and I’m proud of myself.”

The North scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 3-1 lead in the opener. After Newton County’s Kasie Buckley blanked the North over the first three innings, the North greeted Morton’s Taylor Hughes with back-to-back triples by Shelby Howell of Mooreville and North MVP Megan Timbs of Winona in the fourth.

Simcox cut the deficit to 3-2 with a leadoff homer to left field in the bottom of the fourth.

The North extended its lead to 6-3 with single runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh frames.

The North outhit the South 8-6. Howell and Timbs both had a single and a triple for the North.

Simcox had half of the South’s hits with two singles and a homer. She also scored two runs. Buckley and Yancey Tillman of Union both had a single.

Timbs went the distance to get the win. She struck out five.

Hughes took the loss.

In the second game, the South snapped a 2-2 tie with two runs in the top of the third inning. One run scored on a fielder’s choice by Clarkdale’s Jessie Clark and the other on a North error. Simcox made it 5-2 with a leadoff homer to center field in the fifth.

A three-run sixth broke the game open. Haley Sones of Loyd Star led off with a homer to left field and Buckley delivered a two-run single.

The South had a 9-8 advantage in hits with Sones getting a single and a homer and winning pitcher Kaley Stampley of Columbia getting a pair of singles.

Rebecca Rogers of Amory had two singles to lead the North. Leslie Hendrix of Kossuth had a triple.

Rogers took the loss.