Lady Tigers Bounce Back, Beat Canton

The Lady Vandals softball team held off a late comeback by the Lady Tigers of Wills Point and held onto their perfect record in the process.

With the district lead on the line, Van built a 3-0 lead in the third and fourth inning, then held on in the seventh to get the win and all but clinch a district title.

"We hurt ourselves early," said head coach Iyhia McMichael. "We walked in a run, and had a couple of bad plays in the field. I think one of their runs came on a legitimate hit."

The Lady Vandals scored one in the third and two in the fourth to build the lead, and that score held until the Lady Tigers last at bat.

Back-to-back singles by Taylor Parker and Shelby Perry put two runners on base, and Shelby Cunningham singled both runs home. With two outs and two on, sophomore Brooke Jones hit a solid fly that was caught to end the game.

Wills Point hosted Canton on Tuesday and broke open a 1-0 game with four runs in the fifth to win 5-0. The win gave the Lady Tigers a 5-2 record, one game ahead of Mineola and Canton.

Shelby Perry (8-3) got the win, pitching a two-hit shutout and striking out 17. Lacy Belk led the offense by hitting two doubles. Savannah Foster, Parker and Perry also had doubles.

The team will be in Kemp on Friday before hosting a rematch with the No. 1 ranked, and undefeated Lady Vandals on Tuesday.