By Robert Wilson
Northwest Rankin softball coach Mike Armstrong had a good feeling four years ago that if this group of talented players would stick together, they had a great shot of winning a state championship.
It happened this season.
Led by junior pitcher Jolie Hays – named the MaxPreps Mississippi Player of the Year and the MHSAA Class 6A Player of the Year – the Lady Cougars won the Class 6A state championship with a sweep of South Panola in the best-of-three series at Southern Miss in Hattiesburg.
Northwest Rankin finished with a 33-4 record and won the school’s first state softball championship since 2009. The Lady Cougars almost brought home a state title last season, losing to Petal in three games in the state championship series, losing Game 3 3-2.
“I knew about 4 years ago that if they all stuck together, we had a good chance to win it again,” said Armstrong, who led his team to the state title in 2009 and also won a slow pitch state title in 2012. “We were able to win the 6A title this year because of experience and we had some older players in key positions. Even though we only had one senior on the team, we have players who have started a lot of games for us. Most of them have been starting for us since they were in the seventh or eighth grade.
“The girls had two practice jerseys that we wore each day. One said, ‘Prove It’ and the other said, ‘One Goal’ on the back. I had told them last year they were the best team I have ever had, they just needed to prove it to everyone. I feel like they did it this year.”
Northwest Rankin’s talented lineup was led by players who are committed to Division I programs.
Hays, a Southern Miss commitment, had a 21-2 record with a 1.03 earned run average and 213 strikeouts in 157 innings and had a .398 batting average with six doubles and three triples. Junior catcher Chloe Miller, a Southern Miss commitment, hit .305 with 6 doubles, 1 triple and 1 home run. Junior third baseman Reese Collier, a Coastal Carolina commitment, hit .348 with a team-high 30 runs batted in, 34 runs, 6 doubles and 3 home runs. Sophomore shortstop Brooke Smith led the team with a .413 batting average with 50 hits, 30 stolen bases and made only two errors. Sophomore outfielder-pitcher Grace Wallis hit .404 with 7 doubles and 3 home runs and had a 9-2 pitching record with 71 strikeouts in 65 innings.
“Jolie is very determined and a winner,” Armstrong said. “Chloe is one of the top three catches in the state and led us in RBIs in the final series. She is a very smart catcher and was our Scholar Athlete award winner. Reese is the best third baseman I have seen in the past two years in the state. She is a hard nose player and brings a lot of intensity to the team. Brooke is the best shortstop in the state and is the most complete softball player I have ever had at Northwest Rankin. She is a great athlete. Grace would be the number one pitcher for most teams. She will do whatever she is asked to do to help us win.”
Northwest Rankin should be the favorite to repeat as Class 6A state champions next season.
Said Armstrong: “We have all nine defensive starters returning and we are hoping not to have to wait another 14 years (to win a state title).”
