MONTICELLO — Franklin County got home runs from Lay Lay Griffin and KeKe Collins and some clutch hits in the top of the sixth inning as the Lady Bulldogs defeated the Lawrence County Lady Cougars 8-5 Monday afternoon.

Franklin County, ranked No. 5 in Class 3A in one statewide high school slow-pitch softball poll, snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 3-2 on the season.

“We played much better offensively. We hit the ball harder. And the defense played better. We just played a lot better ball than we did our last game (a loss to Class 5A No. 3 Brookhaven),” Lady Bulldogs head coach Dana Smith said.

Griffin got things going by smashing a fly ball over the fence in right centerfield that gave the Lady Bulldogs a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. After the Lady Cougars made a 3-1 game in the bottom of the first and a scoreless second inning, Collins scored on a solo inside-the-park home run that gave Franklin County a 4-1 advantage.

“It set the morale for the rest of the game. It gave us a boost,” Smith said about Griffin’s home run. “It definitely felt good (to get the early lead).”

Lawrence County would not go away quietly, however. The home team scored two runs in the bottom of the third inning to pull within one run. After Franklin County scored on a two-out single by Courtney Hauer that brought in Griffin in the top of the fourth inning, the Lady Cougars tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Griffin on with a single and advanced to second and third bases on consecutive groundouts by Nicole Wright and Hayle McKinney.

“Some of the younger girls got to play varsity ball, and they did a good job putting it in play,” Smith said.

Franklin County took the lead for good in the top of the sixth inning. Collins hit a double and scored on a double by Mildred Starks. Starks then scored on a double by Griffin for a 7-5 lead. Griffin then moved to third base on a groundout by Wright and scored on an RBI groundout by McKinney.

“We said our goal was to finish. And in the sixth and seventh innings, we finished,” Smith said.

The two teams combined for 28 hits and six errors — 14 hits and three errors by each team.

The Lady Bulldogs were led by Griffin, who went 3-for-3; Sierra Bentley, who was 2-for-2; Starks, who helped her own cause by going 2-for-3; and Collins, who was 2-for-4.

Emily Turnage led the Lady Cougars by going 2-for-3 with a triple while Jazz Thomas went 2-for-3 with a double and Sam Lee was 2-for-4 with a double.

Franklin County plays host to South Pike today with the junior varsity game at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity game at 7 p.m.

Trinity Episcopal 12,

Tensas Academy 2

ST. JOSEPH, La. — After a six-run outburst to start the game, Trinity Episcopal’s bats cooled down for a couple of innings. But after a 45-mintue weather delay, they got hot again.

Ashleigh Williams’ three-run home run highlighted a five-run scoring barrage in the top of the fourth inning as the Lady Saints ended up 10-run ruling the Tensas Academy Lady Chiefs in five innings Monday afternoon.

“The girls enjoyed the home run by Ashleigh, which was a bomb way over the fence in dead centerfield,” Trinity head coach Chris Hutchins said.

The six runs that the Lady Saints scored in the top of the first inning was all the run support Katie Steele needed. Steele allowed two runs on six hits and two walks to go with just one strikeout. And she got plenty of help from her defense, which committed no errors.

The Lady Chiefs trailed 12-0 before finally getting on the scoreboard with one run in the bottom of the fourth. They could have extended the game for another inning if they had scored at least two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Instead, they scored just once in that frame and the game was over.

“I thought that we played our best defensive game of the year. And that’s good because Katie kept us in the game,” Hutchins said. “(She did) not (get) a lot of strikeouts, but she didn’t walk too many.”

Williams went 2-for-3 with the home run and a double, and Steele helped her cause by going 2-for-4 with a double. Randa Morace led Trinity’s 12-hit attack by going 3-for-3 with a double and Mary Kate Huber was 2-for-2 with a double.

“The middle part of our lineup did a good job tonight in moving runners around, which was important for us to score those runs. We’ve been leaving a lot of runners on base,” Hutchins said. “We are doing a better job for sure at the plate.”

Trinity (5-5) plays at Brookhaven Academy in MAIS District 5-AA action today with the JV game at 5 p.m. and the varsity game at 6:15 p.m.

ACCS 16, Amite School Center 13

LIBERTY — Adams County Christian School had two big innings — and the visiting Lady Rebels from Natchez needed both of them to hold off the Amite School Center Lady Rebels Monday afternoon.

ACCS scored seven runs in the top of the second inning to take a 7-1 lead. After Amite School Center scored five runs in the bottom of the third to make it a 7-6 ball game, ACCS answered with six runs of its own in the top of the fourth for what should have been a commanding 13-6 lead.

But the one thing that has been the nemesis for ACCS’ pitching staff this season — walks — almost cost the visiting team magain. The host Lady Rebels scored seven times in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game up at 13-13.

But this time, ACCS would not fold as it scored three times in the top of the fifth and winning pitcher Brooke Runnels kept Amite School Center off the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth. Runnels finished with seven strikeouts and seven walks in the five-inning contest.

Tory Laird went 2-for-4 with a triple and a home run to lead ACCS at the plate.

ACCS (5-8) hosts Columbia Academy in MAIS District 5-AA action today with the JV game at 4:30 p.m., followed by the varsity game at 5:45 p.m.

Centreville 8, Bowling Green 5

CENTREVILLE — Katie Berry and Laramie Greer each had a key hit for Centreville Academy as the Lady Tigers rallied to defeat the Bowling Green School Lady Buccaneers Monday night.

Berry’s three-run triple highlighted Centreville’s five-run rally in the bottom of the second inning that gave the Lady Tigers a 6-4 lead. Greer’s second double of the game brought in two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning for an 8-5 lead.

This MAIS District 6-AA game was called after five innings because of the time limit rule.

Ariana Bigner didn’t have her best stuff, but the offense picked up her and she eventually settled down after allowing four runs in the first two innings. She allowed five runs on six hits with two strikeouts and three walks to pick up the win.

Centreville Academy (16-8, 3-1) plays at the Parklane Academy Tournament on Saturday.