Spartanburg, South Carolina — Northwest Mississippi Community College’s softball team, seeded 13th, was eliminated from the NJCAA Division II Softball World Series after a 9-7 loss to eighth-seeded Pima Community College.
The Rangers jumped to an early lead with a two-run first inning, highlighted by an RBI double from Handley McAtee that drove in Ava Claire Rhoden. Emma Jennings added a single that scored Sela Mancini and Lillianna Cates, giving Northwest a 3-0 advantage after one inning.
Northwest extended its lead to 6-0 in the second inning, with hits from Mancini and Jennings driving in runs. Starting pitcher Meredith Dearman kept Pima off the board through the first three innings, surrendering only one hit and three baserunners.
The game turned in the bottom of the fourth, when Pima loaded the bases with one out and scored on a sacrifice fly, cutting the lead to 6-1. The Aztecs added two more runs on a single up the middle and scored a third run on the same hit, closing the gap to 6-4. Dearman was replaced by Catelyn Brown, who kept Pima from further scoring that inning.
Pima’s offense exploded in the fifth inning, recording a triple and rallying for five runs. The inning chased Brown from the game and brought Dearman back to pitch. Despite a late solo home run from Cates in the sixth, Pima extended its lead to 9-7. Northwest managed only three hits after the second inning and couldn’t sustain its early momentum.
The loss marked the second consecutive year the Rangers exited the series after facing Pima. Brown took the loss, giving up five runs in one inning. Dearman pitched six innings, allowing four runs and striking out five. Northwest finished the season with a 29-21 record, concluding its first back-to-back trips to the World Series in program history. The team’s sophomore group finished their careers with the best two-year record in program history at 73-33.
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