The Neshoba Central Lady Rockets are ranked number 1 nationally for the season in the USA Today/NFCA Super 25. This is their eighth consecutive year as Mississippi State Class 5A Champions. For 39 straight games they remain undefeated. None of this is by accident.
Coach Zach Sanders said “it’s a great accomplishment for our girls softball team at Neshoba Central. It speaks volumes to the female athletes we have here. We have a great group with our assistant coaches and our under class girls. We had 27 members on the team this year and for a group that size, they don’t have any problems. They enjoy being around each other. They are out there on that field for a purpose.”
Elleigh Willis – Pitcher/Second Base- “There are just so many emotions. I guess we could start with the 2020 season when Covid cancelled all sports, when family and friends were forced to be apart and so many lives were lost. I wanted everything to go back to normal. Softball and being with my team was the only thing that made sense to me. We had to keep winning to be normal. There were so many people who doubted us but I didn’t want to focus on that but what I could control. I knew how to stay positive no matter what.”
Annaleigh Jones- Catcher -“This is the first time I have ever been a part of a team like this…. We have just worked so hard. We have great communication with each other. We are great friends…. We always pick each other up when we are down. We tell each other we can do it. As long as we work together we know everything will be fine… I am so thankful I got to be a part of this team, that I got to be a part of a national championship team. That’s not something that always happens or something everybody can say they have been a part of. And I am just so grateful for it.”
Tenly Grisham-Third Base-“It is such a great honor for the recognition and the accomplishments that we have gotten all year…. I think we have team chemistry and a bond like no other. We are all so close and have all played ball growing up together. We were probably 6, 7, or 8 years old when we started playing with each other and against each other. We can all trust each other…. The Lord God- we wouldn’t be here without him or in the position we are in without him. We pray before every game. We write bible verses on our arms before every game to remind us that we play for Him.”
Tenly Grisham will be a senior rocket this coming year. Elleigh Willis and Annaleigh Jones move forward to Holmes Community College where they will play ball.
