Northwest Rankin and Clinton are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2016, but likely not for long. Northwest Rankin will be playing at home against Clinton at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Northwest Rankin's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. Everything went their way against Pearl as Northwest Rankin made off with a 15-0 victory. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last four times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
Bella Pierce looked comfortable as she struck out nine batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and not a single walk). She has been consistent : she hasn't given up more than two hits in five consecutive appearances.
Payton Hayes
| 03/21/25 vs Pearl | 3 |
| 03/18/25 vs Petal | 2 |
| 02/22/25 vs Sumrall | 2 |
| 03/01/25 @ Clinton | 1 |
| 02/28/25 vs North Pike | 1 |
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Payton Hayes, who scored a run while going 3-for-3. Those three hits gave her a new career-high. Carlee Tubbs was another key player, going 1-for-2 with two runs and one triple.
Northwest Rankin was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .467. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Pearl only posted a batting average of .000.
Clinton's found some homefield redemption this week after a overtime loss to Germantown on Thursday. Clinton was the clear victor by a 19-1 margin over Starkville. The Arrows have beaten the Yellowjackets the last four times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Yellowjackets has come to flipping the script.
Clinton got a massive performance out of Makenzie Cooley, who scored four runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4. Cooley also put up a triple, which was her first of the season. Another player making a difference was Cailyn Willis, who went 3-for-4 with four RBI, one triple, and one run.
Clinton pushed their record up to 8-7 with the win, which was their third straight at home. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.3 runs over those games. As for Northwest Rankin, their win bumped their record up to 11-2.
Clinton's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Saturday. Northwest Rankin has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.5 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Clinton, though, as they've been averaging an even more impressive 2.7 strikeouts. Will Northwest Rankin keep running through batters, or will Clinton buck the trend?
Northwest Rankin skirted past Clinton 2-1 in their previous meeting on March 1st. Will Northwest Rankin repeat their success, or does Clinton has a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
