Harvey Simpson
Cordele Dispatch
Cordele —
By HARVEY SIMPSON
Dispatch Sports Editor
C0RDELE – A Crisp County Middle School softball team did something Tuesday that none of its predecessors had done in years — if it’s ever been done it at all — beat Lee County.
Coach Joy Misinco’s girls posted a 10-4 victory over the Leesburg lasses and then followed up that win by crushing Sumter County 20-1 in a Thursday game shortened to just three innings by the mercy rule.
“This was a huge win for us,” Misinco said on the heels of the rare decision over Lee County. “I don’t know how many years it had been since our middle school had beaten them in softball, but I do know that it hasn’t been done in quite a while.”
In posting the triumph, Misinco said Crisp benefited, as usual, from “great pitching (Shane Phinney and Meagan Coleman shared those chores)” and also was “definitely strong at the plate (where it collected 12 hits).”
Phinney struck out five, walked three and allowed five hits and three runs during her five innings of work. Coleman whiffed three and walked five in two hitless frames.
Torie Holmes and Ashley Phillips punched out three hits apiece and Phinney and Jesse Dickerson each delivered a pair to lead the way offensively.
Against Sumter County, Crisp pushed across 13 second-inning scores on its way to a runaway victory highlighted by Haley Mixon’s no-hit effort on the mound.
“Coach (Lynn) Stripling and I are blessed to have three great pitchers we can count on and Haley certainly did a terrific job today,” Misinco said in lauding Mixon’s effort in which she struck out eight of the 10 batters she faced.
Phinney, Coleman and Savannah Thompson all had two hits apiece for Crisp which now stands 5-2 on the season. Its next game is set for 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 14 at home vs. Worth.
