Peterson, Long Beach sweep West Jones

Faith Peterson had three hits and four RBI as Long Beach beat West Jones 7-3 in Game 2 of their first round Class 5A state playoff series on Saturday.

The Lady Bearcats completed the sweep. Long Beach will host Pearl River Central in Game 1 of their second-round series Tuesday.

With two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning, Peterson’s single to deep right field drove in two runs. Abbey Fisher’s RBI double put the Lady Bearcats up 5-1.

Peterson also had an RBI double in the first and a RBI single in the sixth inning.

“Timely hitting, we’ve been up and down all year,” Bearcats coach Scott Zink said. “We’re starting to hit the ball with players in scoring position. We’ve been a good team, meaning we get one girl hitting one day, one girl hitting another day. We just keep picking each other up. Faith Peterson had a huge day. Abbey Fisher had a huge day. Kaitlynn McGoey had a huge day.”

Savannah Bryant pitched a complete game for the Bearcats, giving up four hits and striking out six to earn the win.

“She’s been a rock all year,” Zink said. “She’s very steady, very consistent, multiple pitches. She fights to the end; just another day in the office for her today.”

The Bearcats also scored in the fifth and sixth innings. West Jones scored twice in the seventh, closing out the game’s scoring.

Fisher and McGoey each had two hits for the Bearcats.

This story was originally published April 22, 2017 at 3:28 PM with the headline "Peterson, Long Beach sweep West Jones."