WESSON — Three Miss-Lou products helped carry the Copiah-Lincoln Community College softball team to its second consecutive MACJC State Championship this past month.

Freshmen Monea Cameron and Melissa McFarland, both of Franklin County, and sophomore Alex Foster, an Adams County Christian graduate, helped the Lady Wolves to their third state title in four years.

The Lady Wolves (32-10, 20-4) defeated Mississippi Gulf Coast 8-5 before taking third place in the regional tournament.

“We were south division champions, which allowed us to host the state tournament, which we won at our place,” Co-Lin coach Allen Kent said. “In the last poll that came out we were ranked ninth nationally. Last year we also won the regional tournament, and we went to the national tournament and finished national runners up last year.

In 2006, the Lady Wolves won both the state and regional tournaments, finishing third in the nation.

This year’s team received a lot of help from one player not expected to contribute right away.

Cameron only started playing fast-pitch softball as a sophomore in high school, so Kent expected the outfielder’s contributions to come slowly.

But he was wrong.

“She led our team in hitting — her batting average was .412 for the year, and she set a school record for home runs with 10,” Kent said. “She had a .748 slugging percentage, and she had 18 walks. Monea made a tremendous improvement from the fall to the spring. In the fall she wasn’t necessarily a projected starter, but she really worked hard to make a lot of improvements on her swing. She turned into one of our most valuable players.”

Cameron was second on the team in stolen bases with 11.

While she said she didn’t expect to do so well this year, she was disappointed with her steals, and she feels she still has a lot of improvements to make.

The steals should have been way better,” she said. “And I just need to be more vocal — I need to be talking in the outfield. I’m going to keep working on that and on hitting, too.”

McFarland worked for the Lady Wolves in relief, finishing with a 5-1 record. She pitched 35 innings, with a 4.40 ERA.

The general studies major said winning the state tournament was the best part of the season.

“Melissa gave us some good innings. We never hesitated to bring her in to pitch,” Kent said. “She’s not a dominant, overpowering pitcher, but she’s got good off-speed pitches. She has a little more movement on her ball than some and can be a very effective change of pace for us.”

Kent said Foster played well considering her softball experience.

ACCS did not have a fast-pitch softball program when Foster attended the school.

“Alex filled in some spots — her batting average wasn’t quite what she would have liked for it to have been,” Kent said. “She put the ball in play but didn’t necessarily get the results. But she’s very athletic, and she came up with some big hits for us in some pinch-hitting situations.”

The Lady Wolves will return seven players to next season’s team, and they are losing 10 sophomores.

But McFarland sees another state title in the team’s future.

“We could go just as far, if not farther, next season,” she said. “We have a lot of freshmen coming back from this year, and coach has done a good job of recruiting.”

Kent said with the help of the two former Franklin County Lady Bulldogs, McFarland could be right.

Cameron is being scouted by Mississippi College and Mississippi Valley State, and there are opportunities for McFarland to continue playing softball as well.

“We’re real excited that Monea had the kind of year she had as a freshman,” Kent said. “Her and Melissa are both soft spoken, but they work hard on the field. They do everything we’ve asked them to do.”