Tuesday's softball roundup: Woodland tops Hiram for key region win
WOODLAND 6, HIRAM 1
Woodland posted three runs in the first inning and never trailed in a 6-1 defeat of Hiram Tuesday.
The Region 7-AAAAA win held extra importance for the Lady Cats, who are battling for one of the final region playoff spots.
Sarah Baynard was strong in the pitching circle for Woodland. She scattered three hits and three walks while allowing only a single earned run. Baynard struck out six for the complete game victory.
Bella Carnes had three hits for Woodland. Brittney Cox had two hits and drove in two runs. Skylar Chappell added two RBIs with one hit. Jamison Kilgo, Jordan Duck, and Madgie Robinson also had hits.
Hiram slipped to 7-9 overall and 5-7 in region play.
Woodland (8-15, 4-7) moved one full game ahead of Cass for the final region playoff spot with the win and will entertain Paulding County Thursday at 5:55pm. The Lady Cats will honor their seniors at Thursday’s game.
GORDON LEE 8, EXCEL CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 0
Excel was shutout at Gordon Lee Tuesday afternoon, 8-0.
The Lady Eagles were limited to only two hits — one each by Rachel Parrott and Brighton McCollum.
Hannah Lee (5 IP, 8R, 6ER, 10H, 2BB) suffered the pitching loss for Excel.
Faith Alexander and Gracey Kruse combined for six hits and Kruse had five RBIs to lead the Lady Trojans’ attack.
Canaan Burnett (4 IP, 0R, 1H, 6K, 0BB) earned the pitching victory. Janie Durham worked the final two innings in the pitching circle for Gordon Lee and allowed only one hit with two strikeouts.
Excel (8-11) travels to Dalton to take on Christian Heritage Thursday.
VILLA RICA 10, CASS 2
Three errors, a walk, and a hit batsman helped Villa Rica break open a 2-2 game with five runs in the bottom of the third inning. They did add one hit late in the frame, but scored seven times in the first three innings on only two hits. The Wildcats first two runs in the opening inning also came after a Cass error and a hit batsman. Payton Turner did the damage for the Wildcats with a double that drove home both runners to tie the game.
Cass opened the game’s scoring and took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first with a single by Hope Elrod that was followed by a two-run homer by Sarah Moore.
Villa Rica (15-5, 10-2) added a single run in the fourth inning and two more in the fifth to end the game
Cass committed 5 errors in the loss — all in the first three innings.
Elrod finished with two hits for Cass. Moore (2-run homer), Sierrah Gani, Sarah Fox, and Arianna Mustin had the other hits for the Lady Colonels.
Moore (3.1 IP, 6R, 4ER, 5H, 4BB) and Mustin (1 IP, 4R, 0ER, 0H, 2BB) both worked in the pitching circle for Cass.
The Lady Colonels (5-18, 3-8) host their senior night Thursday against East Paulding at 5:55pm.
CHAPEL HILL 4, CARTERSVILLE 3
The Lady Canes challenged one of the Region 5-AAAA leaders until the final inning Tuesday night, but came up one run short at Chapel Hill, 4-3.
Chapel Hill took a 3-0 lead through three innings, but the Cartersville roared back.
The Lady Canes scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning to knot the score, 3-3.
Paris Poston started the inning with a single and Hannah Todd reached on a ground ball to third base. Lauren McElhaney followed by laying down a sacrifice, but all runners were safe on an error by the Panthers’ catcher. Groundouts by Presley Edwards and Cio Seigler forced home two runs and Madison McKinney tied the game with a single to centerfield.
Chapel Hill (14-7, 9-1) scored the game winning run in the bottom of the fourth inning.
The Panthers got a single and a two-out double to put runners at second and third base. An intentional walk loaded the bases, before Bella Caricari coaxed an RBI base on balls and a 4-3 lead.
Todd (6 IP, 4R, 2ER, 5H, 4BB, 3K) was tagged with the pitching loss. Kira Morgan (3.2 IP, 3R, 1ER, 5H, 2BB, 3K) started for the Lady Panthers, but Ashley Morgan (3.1 IP, 0R, 0H, 0BB, 8K) picked up the pitching victory in relief.
Molly Wilson and Tara Mathis added hits for Cartersville.
Cartersville (12-10, 4-6) plays a region doubleheader Saturday at LaGrange.
SONORAVILLE at ADAIRSVILLE
Adairsville lost to Sonoraville, 8-0 in five innings.
The Lady Phoenix scored all eight of their runs over the final three innings.
Emily Collum and Morgan DeBoard managed the only Adairsville hits. Harleigh Chastain had three hits to lead Sonoraville (11-10, 8-5).
Loren Harris and Natalie Burrow split the pitching duties for the Lady Tigers. They surrendered only two earned runs as Adairsville committed six errors in the contest.
Adairsville (8-10, 5-7) hosts Calhoun Thursday in another Region 6-AAA matchup.
