The Vicksburg Missy Gators have been struggling a bit at the plate this season. Lately, however, there seems to be something in the water.

The Missy Gators banged out seven hits on Monday and rolled to a 16-1 rout of Greenville. The Missy Gators scored 15 runs in the first two innings and ended it after three via the mercy rule.

The big win followed an 11-0 thrashing of Madison-St. Joseph on Friday, and the two-game offensive surge came after a four-game stretch in which they scored only one run.

“Against teams like that, you can’t play down, you have to play the game the way it’s supposed to be played, and so for the most part we did that,” Vicksburg coach Brian Ellis said.

Monday’s game turned into a blowout in the first inning, as the Gators took a commanding 7-0 lead. Greenville managed to get its lone run in the second frame, but Vicksburg went on another scoring binge in the bottom half. A bases-clearing triple by Jamie Ward highlighted the eight-run inning.

All that was left in the third inning was to put the mercy rule into effect, and Chelsea Myers smacked a single to left field that sent Sara Daniels home for the win.
Myers went 2-for-3 with one walk and three RBIs, and Ward had one hit, two walks and three RBIs.

Kayla Foster had a strong day on the mound for Vicksburg, allowing just three hits, two walks and no earned runs while striking out two batters.

“I think I did really well,” Foster said. “I only walked a couple of people and I didn’t hit anybody. It was a good game. My defense backed me up.”

With a few of the Vicksburg pitchers dealing with injury issues, including Foster, it was big for her to have such a successful outing.

“She threw strikes, she didn’t walk many batters, and she was able to hit some spots too,” Ellis said. “Especially in games like that you don’t want to give them extra life or something. They got a couple of balls that they hit hard off of her, but at the same time we took care of it defensively so it wasn’t a big deal.”

Monday’s quality outing marked a trend for Foster. She threw a two-hit shutout in her previous game against Madison-St. Joe.

“The last two games, she’s thrown well,” Ellis said. “I think on Friday she only gave up two hits, and only walked one, and struck out three, and threw a shutout, so it’s good for her, especially with her back.”

Vicksburg is traveling to Canton for a game on Thursday, then has two district matchups next week with Ridgeland and Germantown. Last year, Ridgeland beat the Missy Gators twice, but this year Ellis felt the matchup is more even.

“Very winnable ballgames, it will be a little different this year,” Ellis said. “If we go and take care of business like we’ve done the last two games, we have a chance to be successful against Ridgeland. That’s our focus, one game at a time right now, when we get into those district games, try to get a win from them.”

Foster thought their dominant victory against Greenville could give them a boost.

“It’ll give us good confidence for the next games to come,” Foster said.