How freshman star Lucy Cochran led East Union softball to back-to-back MHSAA state titles

HATTIESBURG — Stars perform at their best at critical moments and that’s exactly what Lucy Cochran did.

The East Union softball pitcher is just a freshman, but she recently was named MHSAA Class 2A Miss Softball for the second season in a row. And now, she and East Union are state champions in back-to-back seasons following a two-game sweep of Pisgah in the MHSAA Class 2A championship.

East Union (30-4) won the first game on Tuesday 3-0 and the second game Wednesday with an 11-3 score.

“To go out and win back-to-back, it’s like I have to pinch myself,” East Union coach Josh Blythe said. “It’s so incredibly hard to do.”

Cochran threw every single pitch — 216 total — in the championship series and batted 4-for-7 with a hit by pitch, three RBIs and two runs.

And while she got the shutout on Tuesday, Wednesday was more of a challenge in the circle. Pisgah (27-9) jumped on her early, spotting three runs in the top of the first inning via double, wild pitch, single and then a two-run homer by Alyssa McMurtrey. Cochran wasn’t rattled, though, and she shut out Pisgah in the final six innings. She struck out five, allowed eight hits and walked three.

“I just had to get calm because I was really nervous,” Cochran said. “I just had to stay calm and just push through it.”

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East Union scored two runs in the second inning before taking the lead with three runs in the third. It also added two runs in the fifth inning and four insurance runs in the sixth inning — two of which came from a two-RBI double by Cochran.

But no single play swung the momentum of the game more than what happened in the top of the fifth inning with East Union leading 5-3. Pisgah had runners at first and second with two outs and the go-ahead run, McMurtrey, at the plate. She hit a sharp line drive to first baseman Ali Cooper, who had to dive to the bag, but McMurtrey beat her out. With Cooper face-first on the dirt, the Pisgah runner who was at second base attempted to score, but Cooper sniffed it out, threw to home and the catcher applied the tag just in time to end the inning.

“When you put a kid like Ali Cooper at first base who’s that athletic, we’re already ahead of most people,” Blythe said. “She’s a shortstop playing first base. That’s incredible that she can do that.”

So it’s two Miss Softball titles and two state championships for the freshman phenom. It’s difficult to tell what will stop her from winning plenty more awards.

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_.