Softball | 4/26/2025 12:27:00 PM

The Clinton High School Softball team punched its ticket to the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 7A Playoff's Second Round on Friday night.

In the second game of a best-of-three series, Annalise Whitworth went the distance inside the circle, Keelyn Constancio scored two important runs off a pair of errors, and Makenzie Cooley provided a two-run homerun in a 5-4 victory over the DeSoto Central Lady Jaguars at Lady Arrow Softball Field. The Lady Arrows defeated the Lady Jaguars 4-3 in the opening game of the first-round playoff series on Wednesday in Southaven.

Clinton faces a familiar opponent in the next round of the MHSAA Class 7A Playoffs. The Region 2-7A Champion Madison Central Lady Jaguars await the red and black for a three-game series that starts on Thursday, May 1, in Madison. The Lady Arrows will host the Lady Jaguars on Friday, May 2.

Trailing by a run after the first inning, Keelyn's single led to an error by the Lady Jaguars' left fielder that plated Cailyn Willis and Keelyn for a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third. Then, in the fourth, Cooley pounced on an inside pitch. Her shot into the night sky cleared the left-field fence for two more runs and a 4-1 advantage.

DeSoto Central pulled another run back during the fifth, but Keelyn slapped another single into left field that resulted in an error. As the outfielder scrambled for the softball, the sophomore center fielder wheeled around the base path for her second run, which would prove to be the game's deciding factor.

The Lady Jaguars plated two runs in the seventh inning, but Whitworth stranded the tying and go-ahead runs at second and third base, sending the Lady Arrows into celebration mode.

THE STATS

• Whitworth surrendered eight hits and four runs (three earned) over her seven innings of work. She struck out two and walked three.
• Cooley provided pop in the middle of the lineup. The senior, batting fourth, went 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
• Keelyn led the Lady Arrow bats with three hits and two runs.