By Robert Wilson
Copiah-Lincoln softball team had an eight-hour bus ride back from Spartanburg, S.C., but the Lady Wolves didn’t care how long the ride was.
They spent most of the time celebrating a national championship, the first one in school history.
No. 5 seed Co-Lin defeated No. 6 seed Jones County Junior College 7-0 in an all-Mississippi final for the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II championship May 27 in Spartanburg.
Co-Lin had to beat Jones twice to win the title. Jones defeated Co-Lin 5-3 in the semifinals, but Co-Lin bounced back in the double-elimination tournament, defeating Des Moines Area CC 10-3 then Jones 10-5 in eight innings to force another championship game.
Brookhaven Academy alumnus and freshman catcher Abby Grace Richardson was named the tournament MVP and won the tournament’s Offensive Player award. She hit .350 with four home runs in the six tournament games. Richardson hit a home run, had four runs batted in, and walked three times to lead Co-Lin in the championship game and had two home runs and four RBIs in the first championship game against Jones. Hillcrest Christian alumnus, sophomore pitcher and Belhaven signee Belle West pitched a five-hit shutout in the second title game. Kosciusko High alumnus, leadoff batter and sophomore third baseman Josie Meggs had two hits and scored three runs in the second championship game.
But Co-Lin was three outs from being eliminated in the first championship game until the trio of Choctaw Central High alumnus and freshman left fielder Leia Phillips, Lawrence County High alumnus and sophomore designated player Skyler Speights and Simpson Academy alumnus and freshman first baseman Zykeria Cole came through in the seventh inning to send the game into extra innings. Phillips was hit by pitch, Speights doubled, and Cole hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Then in the eighth inning, West hit a three-run home run to give Co-Lin an 8-5 lead. Brandon High alumnus and freshman pitcher Cara Biswell pitched 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to improve her record to 20-3.
Sophomore shortstop-centerfielder and Southeastern Louisiana signee Faith Kivett was named the Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the tournament.
Co-Lin coach Meleah Howard, who just finished her fifth year as head coach, was as excited and her players on the way home.
“By the time we got on the bus to come back, it was definitely a mix of excitement and just joy,” Howard said. “I mean I think I had chill bumps the whole ride back thinking about the fact that I was riding with a national championship trophy beside me. There was also a little mix of sadness because I knew this was my last bus ride with a group of sophomores that I love dearly and am going to miss very much.
“The girls were the same way. They were still excited about what we had just accomplished but also, they knew this was going to be the last time to be together as a group on a bus ride home and that definitely started to dawn on them. While we were playing, they weren’t thinking about it and now that that was all over, it was hard for them. Definitely an odd mix of emotions, but also such an exciting time for our program.”
Co-Lin also set a school record with 49 victories and lost only 10 games. The Lady Wolves won 22 games of those by the eight-run rule.
Howard, a Bogue Chitto High, Co-Lin CC and Mississippi State graduate, has been successful her entire career. She helped Co-Lin to a national runner-up finish in 2008 as a player and had three state runner-up finishes coaching at East Webster High and Lawrence County High. Howard has a 166-49 record (a 77.2 percent winning percentage) in her five seasons at Co-Lin. She led her team to a then school record 42 wins last season and were ranked No. 1 in the country during the season, the first No. 1 ranking in school history. Howard won her first 18 conference games, won the first Mississippi Community College championship in 13 years, and was named Mississippi CC Coach of the Year in 2022.
Clinton Christian Academy alumnus, sophomore second baseman and Southern Miss signee Maddie Weeks was named All-American after her outstanding season. She had a team-high .427 batting average with 15 doubles, 3 triples, 12 home runs, 60 runs and 66 RBIs and struck out only nine times in 178 at-bats this season.
Weeks finished with a school record 127 RBIs in her two seasons. She had a .403 career batting average, a .468 on-base percentage and a .748 slugging percentage with 131 hits, 22 doubles, 9 triples, 24 home runs, 41 stolen bases, 116 runs scored and a .967 fielding percentage in her Co-Lin career.
Howard credits her team’s depth as one of the main reasons they were able to win a national championship.
“We had four pitchers that could come in and compete at any time,” Howard said. “We also had a very strong offensive lineup. Every single one of our batters competed in all of their at-bats. We didn’t have a hole in our lineup. From 1-9, I had confidence that our hitters would get the job done. We also had a great mix of small ball, speed, and power in our lineup.”
Co-Lin won 42 games last season, but to replace to the majority of the starting lineup.
“Our biggest adversity was replacing so many starters from last year to this year,” Howard said. “At the beginning of the season, we had six new faces on the field. Trying to find the right lineup was our biggest challenge, but once we figured that out, there was no stopping us.”
