HATTIESBURG — Addyson Moore changed her hitting stance before the MHSAA softball playoffs — and won’t be tweaking it again anytime soon.
Corinth’s sophomore catcher had just one home run in the regular season. She finished the year with six after hitting five in the playoffs. Three of those came in the Class 5A state championship series, with Corinth (24-6) completing the sweep of East Central (29-6) on Friday at the Southern Miss softball complex.
“I'm just gonna stick with it and keep going,” Moore said.
Corinth beat East Central 5-1 on Wednesday and 7-3 on Friday for its first state title in program history.
Moore, who was named series MVP, hit her first home run of the championship series in Game 1, a solo shot to left field in the fifth inning. In Game 2, Moore homered in back-to-back innings.
The second home run was a line drive that cleared the fence in left field for a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Her third one was a no-doubt blast to left that gave Corinth a 5-3 lead. Moore also hit a bases-loaded single Friday for two more RBIs. She finished the series 6-for-7 with three runs and six RBIs.
“I just let God have it all this series,” Moore said. “I've been doing really well, and my team really had my back this game and this whole series.”
Corinth started the season 11-6 but won 13 straight games for the state championship.
Junior Callie Pounders pitched all 14 innings of the championship series, allowing just four earned runs and striking out 20.
“We just found a way to come together,” Corinth coach Maggi Vondenstein said. “We knew that we had it in us to make a run, but we knew we were going to have to start doing our part to help get us there. The kids got hungry, they got locked in and focused and they went to work.”
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Rain delays start of game
After rain ended the Class 7A championship early on Thursday night, it delayed the start of Friday’s Corinth-East Central game, too.
First pitch had been scheduled for 11 a.m. CT but the game didn’t begin until 1:57 p.m.
“We told them beginning before this game that they've been sitting around just as long as we've been sitting around,” Vondenstein said. “What's going to matter is the team that shows up ready to play when the first pitch is thrown. I'm glad my kids did.”
Sam Sklar is the Southern Miss beat reporter for the Hattiesburg American. Email him at ssklar@hattiesb.gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
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