Gulf Coast wins Kenneth Long his 600th

ELLISVILLE — It seemed almost fitting that, if Mississippi Gulf Coast softball coach Kenneth Long was going to win his 600th game anywhere but at home, his Bulldogs would do it where they did Friday.

No. 2 Gulf Coast bounced back from its first MACCC loss of the season at the hands of No. 10 Jones on the Bobcats' home field to earn a split with a 7-4 win in the second game.

"We've had so many battles here on this field, so it feels good," Long said. "It's crazy how it worked out, but it's good to get it on this field. Chris (Robinson) and his team do a great job. We knew it was going to be hard coming in here."

Long got his first MGCCC win by beating East Mississippi 9-0 on Feb. 28, 2002 — 6,973 days and one retirement before his 600th. Friday provided another chunk of twists and turns to that long story.

Gulf Coast pitching coach Shelbee Sowders got ejected from the first game, a 9-1 loss in six innings, which meant she couldn't be on the bench for the second. That left pitch-calling to third-year catcher Briana Shores (So., Richland/Richland), the only player left from the 2019 season that ended in Long's retirement after 18 seasons.

He came back to take over on an interim basis this year, and watched as Shores guided Abby Vance (Fr., Calhoun City/Calhoun City) to an eight-hitter against the high-powered Bobcat offense. Shores tried to put herself in the batter's box and think what would make the hitter as uncomfortable as possible.

"Her curveball was working, and her changeup, too," Shores said. "So, we'd throw an outside pitch, come up with a rise and then throw the changeup. That throws the speed off and it threw all of them off."

After being held relatively silent for the first eight innings of the day, the Bulldog bats came to life in the third. Alexis Laughlin (So., Hurley/East Central) doubled in Sarah Brannan (So., Enterprise/Enterprise), who singled with one out. A dropped fly ball that would have been the third out scored a second run, and Rakeya Travis (So., Poplarville/Poplarville) singled.

That brought up K.K. Agner (Fr., Horn Lake/Magnolia Heights), who homered for the only run in the first game. With two on and two out, she knew just what to look for: a riseball

"That's what she'd been throwing me, so I was looking for it," said Agner.

She deposited the pitch down the middle right over the center-field fence to cap a five-run explosion.

Kristian Jones (Fr., Southaven/DeSoto Central) and Shores had sacrifice flies in the fifth inning to make it 7-2, and Vance pitched out of a jam in the seventh.

She gave up a couple of runs, but got a bases-loaded fly ball for Long's 600th.

"It feels really special because I've never been a part of anything like that before," she said.

Shores was recruited to Gulf Coast by Long and played a major part in the milestone victory.

"That's awesome," she said. "I'm so proud of him, especially playing for him my freshman year. It makes me happy for him."

Gulf Coast is now 19-7 overall and 15-1 in the MACCC, one game in the loss column ahead of No. 6 Copiah-Lincoln and No. 3 Itawamba. The Bulldogs play both those teams in two weeks. Their first doubleheader next week is at Southwest Mississippi on Wednesday.

After taking the first league loss Friday to snap an eight-game win streak, they'll be trying to get another streak going after a successful bounce-back at Jones.

"It says a lot about this team because we could have easily folded on the road getting beat like that," Long said. "But this team isn't like that. They did a great job putting it behind them."

Milestone Wins for Kenneth Long

1: Feb. 28, 2002 — Gulf Coast beat East Mississippi 9-0 behind Samantha Johnson's no-hitter. She struck out 10 and the only baserunner came on a hit-by-pitch in the second game of a doubleheader. Keshia Dunnell went 3-for-4 with an RBI double.

100: Feb. 28, 2006 — Gulf Coast beat East Mississippi 3-1 behind a five-strikeout performance by Alicia York. Ashley Williams had a double to help lead the Bulldogs to their first win of the season.

200: April 28, 2008 — Gulf Coast beat Northeast Mississippi 2-0 behind a one-hitter by Danielle Ryan. She struck out 10.

300: April 26, 2011 — Gulf Coast beat Pearl River 4-0 behind Bayleigh Babin's three-hitter. Katy White had two hits for the Bulldogs.

400: May 4, 2014 — Gulf Coast beat Pearl River 4-3 in the MACJC Tournament. Emily Davis scattered eight hits. Dani Craft had a home run, a single and two RBI.

500: Feb. 25, 2017 — Gulf Coast beat Marion Military 10-0 in six innings in the Rush Tournament in Meridian. Lexie Mathis had two doubles among her three hits, and Aidan Nichols got two hits and two RBI while twirling a two-hitter in the circle.

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