Lady Arrows refuse to fold, surge past Lewisburg with stunning seventh-inning comeback

Clinton sophomore catcher Kaelyn Thames applies a tag to a Lewisburg Lady Patriot in Game 1 of the opening-round series on Thursday, April 23, at Clinton High School.

OLIVE BRANCH  — Down to their final outs, the Clinton Lady Arrows delivered a jaw-dropping rally, erupting for 10 runs in the seventh inning to shock Lewisburg, 15-14, in Game 2 of their MHSAA Class 7A Playoff series on Saturday night at Lewisburg High School in Olive Branch.

Clinton claimed the series after opening with a 5-3 victory in Game 1, powered by a Kaelyn Thames grand slam and a complete-game effort from Madison Nelson inside the circle on Thursday, April 23, at Clinton High School.

With the victory, Clinton advances to the second round of postseason play and will face Region 1-7A champion Hernando, which swept Madison Central in its opening-round series.

Trailing by eight entering the seventh, the Lady Arrows capitalized on four hits, a walk, a hit batter, and an error to complete the comeback. Presleigh Burrow delivered the decisive blow, sending a hard ground ball into left field to score Keelyn Constancio from third with the game-winning run.

Cailyn Willis, Anna Raines, and Madison Nelson each delivered RBI singles during the rally, fueling Clinton’s last-gasp surge.

Burrow then shut the door in the bottom half of the inning. After retiring the lead-off batter, she worked through a tense, bases-loaded situation, inducing back-to-back flyouts that were secured by Willis and Mia Thrailkill to seal the win.

Lewisburg jumped out early, scoring eight runs, highlighted by a grand slam, in the first inning and adding four more in the second. The Lady Patriots pushed their lead to 13 runs with an additional run in the third.

Clinton began chipping away in the fourth, scoring two runs on a Lewisburg error. The Lady Arrows continued to close the gap in the firth as Jaelyn Gholar singled, Willis added a sacrifice fly, and Burrow delivered an RBI single to make it 14-5.

Clinton finished with 13 hits in the contest, led by Nelson’s four-hit performance. Gholar, Burrow, Raines, and Thrailkilleach added two hits.

Inside the circle, Nelson and Burrow combined for the complete game effort. Nelson worked four innings, allowing 11 runs, five earned, on seven hits with two strikeouts and three walks.  Burrow earned the win in relief, tossing three innings and allowing three earned runs on three hits. She struck out none and walked six.