The Lady Flames softball team will be seeking to become the fifth Lee squad to earn a NCCAA national championship during the 2014-15 school year when the travel to Botetourt, Virginia to represent the Mid-East Region in the NCCAA Softball Championship.

Lee punched their ticket to the national tournament by defeating Mississippi College 9-1 in the championship game of the Mid-East Region on Saturday afternoon at Butler Field. The team will have very little time to get ready for the Virginia trip. The national event is scheduled to get underway on May 13. Lee will find out who and the time it plays when the bracket is released on Sunday or Monday.

Lee 9, Mississippi College 1
Erratic pitching by Mississippi College in the fifth and sixth innings allowed the Lady Flames to explode for eight runs and break open a 1-1 tie. It all began when the Choctaws elected to walk Kaylie Drew, who had blasted a pair of home runs in Friday's victory over the Mississippi school. It ended with Lee walking off with its eighth and bringing the mercy rule into play.

All totaled the Lady Flames tallied four runs in the fifth and tagged on four more scores in the sixth, mainly due to 12 walks issued by Choctaw pitchers.

Lee broke open a scoreless game in the bottom of the fourth inning when Emily Dagnan stole home. Dagnan finished a perfect day with three hits in three trips to the plate. She scored three runs and collected a RBI.

Mississippi College bounced back to tie the game in the top of the fifth on a solo homer by Madison Oliver. The Lady Flames broke open the hotly contested game in the bottom of the inning and never looked back as they improved their record to 33-17.
Lee pitcher Angie Hughes was in complete command from start to finish. She improved her record to 16-7 by allowing only three hits. She struck out three and walked one over six innings. Five different hurlers worked for the Choctaws.

While Dagnan was leading the hit parade, Qiley Lewis and Lexie Dean contributed two hits apiece, both had RBIs. Dominique Hannah had a hit and knocked in a run as did Holley Gray. She also scored once.

Although Drew did not get an opportunity to blast what would have been a single-season home run record, she did score twice after being intentionally walked on two occasions. NiaRaye Ceasar also tallied two runs. Shay Mickens and Megan Everett had the other hits for the Choctaws.

"I wasn't surprised when they walked Kaylie twice," said Lee coach Emily Russell. "I was surprised when they made a pitching change after tying the game at one. I think they might have been trying to pull out the first-game win and have pitching left, if we had to play a second game. I'm just pleased with the way our girls are playing right now and look forward to trying to bring home our softball program's first national championship."