It is time for a bi-district softball trivia question. What do the following terms represent: Bubba’s Overhead Door, JLR Electric, Barksdale Federal Credit Union, Longview Family Therapy and Chick-fil-A? 

Give up? Those are the signs at the Pine Tree softball field over which Mineola Lady Jackets belted home runs last Friday in the clinching bi-district win over Tatum. 

The series wasn’t much of a contest. The Lady Jackets took game one 11-1. They increased that margin in game two with a winning score of 16-1 in three innings.

For the Lady Jackets, game two was batting practice. In two and two-thirds innings, they put 12 base hits in the scorebook. 

In the first, Journie Wilson sent the first pitch she faced over the wall in left-center field (Bubba’s Overhead Door). Coco Nguyen followed and sent the first pitch over the fence in right-center field (JLR Electric). The Lady Jackets put up six runs in the first.

The long-ball game was far from over.

In the second, Mahayla McMahon sent a line drive over the left field fence for a 2-run home run (Barksdale Federal Credit Union). Wilson stepped back in to the box and sent a sky-shot out of the park to left-center (Longview Family Therapy), and Nguyen also added a second with a drive to right field (Chick-fil-A).

Just for good measure, Kali Chrietzberg followed Nguyen and ripped a ball down the left-field line. It was a clean double, but Chrietzberg legged out an inside-the-park home run after the ball was muffed deep in left field. 

After two innings the score stood 15-0. The Lady Eagles were clearly focused on something other than softball. They did manage to push one run across in the top of the third, which necessitated Mineola coming back to the plate in the bottom half. 

The Lady Jackets scored the 16th run and truncated the game. It was a bi-district title for Mineola. 

Journie Wilson faced 11 batters on the day. She allowed one hit, struck-out one and gave up one free pass in 25 pitches. 

The Lady Jackets will remember the thrill of the long ball from this series but will surely be looking forward to stiffer competition in the area round. 

The Lady Jackets face Hughes Springs in a three-game series, with all games in Winnsboro. Games one and two are Thursday and Friday at 6 p.m., unless another playoff is scheduled there, in which case it will be moved to 5:30. If a third game is necessary it will be Saturday at 2 p.m.