Lady Choctaws lose heartbreaker in sectional title game

 

Jason Peevyhouse

Editor, JP Productions Sports

In a game where runs were hard to come by, the Lady Choctaws from Northview saw their pursuit of a second straight trip to the TMSAA Class A State Tournament come to an end as a sixth-inning run by Ripley proved to be the difference in the orange and white’s 2-1 loss in the TMSAA Section 4 Tournament Championship Game on Thursday night in Jackson.

“Their grit and determination all season long has been unmatched,” Northview Head Coach Chris Thone said. “I told them when our team was meeting after the game that I have coached this game for 16 years and they’re probably top three in grit and determination.”

After a 1-2-3 top of the first, Ripley was able to get a run across in the bottom of the first. A pair of two-out walks proved costly as an error on the next play led to the Lady Tiger run to take a 1-0 lead after one inning.

Northview looked to pull even in the top of the third with a one-out single from Rylee Peevyhouse and a two-out walk by Harper Peery. But, a groundout ended the Lady Choctaw threat with the orange and white still down 1-0.

Peery and the Northview defense got through the bottom of the third by setting the Lady Tigers down in order. The Lady Choctaw offense responded with a Lyla Beth Woody single as she reached third on the same play thanks to an error. Anna Reid Yates then grounded out to short which allowed Woody to score and tie the game at 1-1 after three and a half innings.

Northview looked to take the lead in the top of the fifth with a one-out single from Peevyhouse, but a pair of flyball outs ended the orange and white threat with the game still tied.

Ripley put together a threat with a pair of singles around a strikeout to give the Lady Tigers two on with one out. But, a pop out and a strikeout ended the purple threat and sent the game into the sixth.

Woody and Yates singled with two outs to put the Lady Choctaws in position to take the lead before a pop out stopped the Northview threat.

A pair of errors in the bottom of the sixth proved costly as a sacrifice bunt pushed the go-ahead run to give Ripley a 2-1 lead heading into the seventh inning.

In the final frame, the Lady Tigers worked around a two-out walk by Kate Benedetto to get the win on a fly out to advance to the state tournament.

After the loss, Thone praised his team for their tremendous season in 2025.

“They made me grow more as a coach because of how well they came together as a team, how well they performed,” Thone added. “When you have a team go 15-0, it’s hard to find those little things that they still need to work on. They helped me grow as a coach by helping me find those things together.”

Woody and Peevyhouse led the way for the Lady Choctaws with a pair of singles each.

Peery took the loss, allowing two runs on two hits with five strikeouts.

The loss ends Northview’s season with a record of 19-1. The loss also ends the middle school careers of Lady Choctaw eighth graders Emily Hall, Kate Benedetto, Lilly Tucker, Rilee Price, and Ella Wright.

“They’re an extremely special group of girls and I wish them the best in high school,” Thone added. “I want them to play ball forever and, wherever they go to college to play ball, I want a ticket.”

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