Sophomores lead NACC to ‘Sophomore Day’ sweep

The Northeast Alabama Community College softball team made sure "Sophomore Day" was a memorable one for the program's first signing class.

The sophomores did their part as well.

Sophomores combined for 11 hits, including two home runs, and 10 RBIs, pitched four scoreless innings of relief and made numerous key defensive plays as the No. 3-nationally ranked Mustangs swept visiting conference foe Shelton State 9-1 and 6-2 Thursday at Nathaniel Ledbetter Stadium.

The wins improved Northeast Alabama, which is in just its second season playing college softball, to 47-3 on the season and 28-2 in Alabama Community College Conference play.

After the doubleheader, NACC sophomore players Audra "Pearl" Bellomy, Emmorie Burke, Jada Hampton, Chloe Hatch, Emma Hindmon, Francesca Lumpp, Sophia Murphey, Shianne Parker, Sierra Walding, Kayleigh Warnock and Kiley Weston, along with managers Kailyn Castleberry and Emily Hindmon, were recognized for their contributions the past two seasons, which have seen Northeast go from first-year program to one of the top teams at the junior college level.

"It's a fun day to celebrate them, but it's bittersweet because we're going to miss them. They've been great stewards of the program for the ones that are coming behind them," said NACC head coach Joe Guthrie. "(Today's performances were) the embodiment of who they are."

NACC fell behind 1-0 in the top of the second inning of Game 1, but the Mustangs did not trail for long. Burke hit the first pitch of the bottom of the second inning to left field for a no-doubt home run — her sixth of the season — to tie the game, and Northeast took a 2-1 lead later in the inning when Morgan Perkins walked and scored on fellow freshman Lorelai Sullivan's two-out RBI double. Weston led off the third inning with a double and scored on Burke's RBI single for a 3-1 NACC lead, and the Mustangs added three more runs in the fourth when Perkins and Hindmon hit back-to-back home runs on consecutive pitches — it was Perkins' third homer of the season and Hindmon's second — and Sullivan doubled and scored two batters later on Weston's RBI double. Northeast ended the game via the run-rule in the fifth inning. After Perkins reached on an error and Hindmon singled, Perkins scored on Sullivan's RBI single and pinch runner Bellomy scored on Hatch's RBI single. Weston then singled to center field to plate Hatch with the game-ending run.

Weston finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Sullivan, who leads the ACCC in batting average (.520), was 3-for-3 with two RBIs while Burke was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Hindmon was 2-for-3 with one RBI. The Mustangs got one hit and one RBI from Hatch, who made a diving catch in left field, as well as one hit, one walk and one RBI from Perkins and a walk from Lumpp.

Freshman right-hander Addie Edwards stayed perfect in the circle, improving to 25-0 after allowing only one run on four hits and one walk while recording two strikeouts.

Sophomores continued to make an impact in Game 2. Murphey's RBI groundout and Lumpp reaching on an error plated Hatch and Weston for an early 2-0 NACC advantage, and Sullivan's RBI double drove in Perkins (walk) and Weston's RBI single plated Sullivan for a 4-0 lead in the second inning. The Mustangs stretched their lead to 5-2 on Hatch's RBI double that drove in Sullivan (walk) in the fourth before freshman Olivia Acuff's solo homer upped their advantage to 6-2 in the fifth. NACC ended the game with a defensive gem, as sophomore pitchers Warnock and Parker kept the Bucs scoreless in the seventh thanks in part to Weston's laser-beam throw from center field to catcher Marti McCluskey, who applied the tag to a Shelton State runner at home plate for the game-ending out.

"It couldn't have ended in a better way. Getting Parker to come in and get the last out — Kiley made a great throw and Marti made a great tag," Guthrie said. "Pretty much a storybook finish."

Acuff finished 2-for-3 with her second home run of the season for the Mustangs while Hatch, Weston, Lumpp and Sullivan had one hit and one RBI each. Northeast also got one hit from Burke and one RBI from Murphey.

Warnock got the win in relief as the left-hander recorded two strikeouts while pitching 3 2/3 scoreless innings in relief. Freshman right-hander Erin Harrelson pitched the first three innings and allowed two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out two.

The Mustangs conclude the regular season Saturday with the final two games of their four-game ACCC series with Shelton State. The doubleheader begins at 1 p.m. in Tuscaloosa.

Northeast begins the postseason next week (May 14-16) as the No. 1 seed in the 2026 ACCC Division I Softball Tournament at Liberty Park in Alabaster. The bracket for the tournament has not yet been finalized.

While Guthrie was glad the Mustangs collected two more wins, he called the reading of the letter the sophomores collectively wrote to their teammates, coaches and NACC supporters his favorite part of Thursday's festivities.

"The good thing is, like they said in their message, we've obviously got some time left together," Guthrie said. "We've just got to keep winning so we can keep this bunch around as long as we can, and hopefully that ends up with us on top (at the NJCAA Division I Softball World Series)."