Woodland tops Cass; Cartersville falls at Central-Carroll

Woodland softball struck for four runs in the first inning and three more in the second inning Thursday evening to take a 7-1 lead on their way to an 10-2 Region 7-AAAAA victory over visiting Cass.

The Lady Cats out-hit Cass 10-6 in the contest, but also took advantage of seven Lady Colonels’ errors.

Bella Carnes doubled to get the Woodland offense started in the bottom of the first inning, but it was a pair of walks, two Cass errors, and a Caroline Higdon hit that led to four unearned runs for the Lady Cats and a 4-1 lead.

In the second inning, Woodland added three more runs on three hits and a walk.

Carnes led off with a walk. Morgan Bailey, Brittney Cox, and Jordan Duck followed with hits in the frame as the Lady Cats took a 7-1 lead.

Higdon -- who finished with a pair of hits and three RBIs -- drove in an insurance run for Woodland in the fifth inning, scoring Bailey. Evans also singled in the inning to put Bailey in scoring position.

In Woodland’s sixth inning Madgie Robinson, A Morris, and Bailey all had hits and Cass committed two more errors that led to a pair of runs.

Cass scored an unearned run in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead. They added their other run in the sixth inning with a four-hit frame. Sarah Fox, Haley Owens, Taylor Gibson, and Mae Mae McIntyre each had hits in the inning for the Lady Colonels.

Fox finished the night with two hits. Sarah Moore added the Lady Colonels’ only other hit outside the sixth inning with a single in the third.

Sarah Baynard struck out two and scattered six hits and two walks to earn the complete game pitching victory for Woodland.

Owens (0.1 IP, 4R, 0ER, 1H, 1BB, 1K) was tagged with the pitching loss for Cass without yielding an earned run. Gibson (4.2 IP, 4ER, 5H, 6BB, 3K) closed out the game in relief for the Lady Colonels.

Cass falls to 2-12 overall and 0-7 in region play. Woodland improved to 6-7 overall and 3-4 in Region 7-AAAAA.

Woodland was scheduled for the Lowndes Lady Vikes Classic in Valdosta Friday and Saturday, but will not be attending due to impending weather and travel issues with Hurricane Irma. The Lady Cats will travel to Villa Rica Tuesday (5:55 pm), Cass Wednesday (5:55 pm), and host Kell next Thursday at 5:30 pm.

Cass has home games next week with Paulding County, Woodland, and Hiram, Tuesday through Thursday with 5:55 pm start times.

CENTRAL-CARROLL 7, CARTERSVILLE 6

Central-Carroll scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning Thursday night for a walk-off, come-from-behind win over visiting Cartersville, 7-6.

The Lady Canes and Lady Lions exchanged the lead four times with Cartersville taking a 6-5 advantage into the final frame.

Central used three singles in the seventh inning, the last two coming with two outs, to generate the go-ahead runs.

Colbi Ballard (6.2 IP, 7R, 6ER, 10H, 6BB, 0K) suffered the pitching loss for Cartersville. She also hit a home run with a 3-for-3 performance at the plate that included two RBIs.

Paris Poston homered twice, walked and singled for Cartersville. She finished with three RBIs.

Hope Short had three hits that included a double. Kalli Scheff had two hits. AnnaKate McElhaney, Presley Edwards (double), and Lauren McElhaney (RBI) added one Cartersville hit each.

The Lady Canes led 2-1 after one inning and extended their lead to 3-1 before Central scored three times in the third inning for a 4-3 edge. Cartersville added two more runs in the fifth inning and one in the sixth.

Central-Carroll improved to 11-3 overall and 5-1 in Region 5-AAAA.

Cartersville (4-8, 2-3) plays a doubleheader Saturday at Troup County starting at 12 noon and will host Cedartown Tuesday at 5:30 pm.