Bartow County Little League 10U Softball advances to state championship game
Bartow County Little League Softball 10U has forced a winner-take-all championship game Wednesday at the Georgia Little League Softball State Tournament by winning four consecutive elimination games after an opening round tournament loss.
Bartow 10U lost its first game of the tournament Sunday to Northern-Columbus, but has since responded with a pair of wins Monday and two more Tuesday to force a second championship round game against Oconee County in the double-elimination event.
Bartow 10U defeated Toccoa and Vine Ingle Monday by 2-1 and 10-9 scores. Tuesday morning, Bartow County avenged their only loss of the tournament by blanking Northern-Columbus, 10-0.
That put Bartow 10U in the championship round Tuesday against Oconee County, but needing two wins to capture the state title.
With a 6-2 victory over Oconee Tuesday afternoon, Bartow (4-1) has forced a decisive title game Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. at Hamilton Crossing Park. The Georgia state tournament winner advances to the Tournament of State Champions that begins July 20 in Clarksville, TN.
Bartow 10U 6, Oconee County 2
Bartow County 10U won its fourth straight elimination game by knocking off previously unbeaten Oconee County, 6-2.
Bartow took a 5-0 lead after two innings and held on for their four-run victory.
Elizabeth Hartsfield had a two-run single in the first inning as Bartow took a 2-0 lead.
In the second frame, Harlee Thomason singled, stole a base, and scored to give the locals a 3-0 lead before Kamryn Smith delivered a two RBI single.
Oconee County (3-1) scored both of its runs and narrowed the margin to 5-2 in the fourth inning on an infield hit, a walk, and a pair of groundouts.
Bartow’s final run came in the sixth inning. Carley Aspenwell had a base hit and eventually came around to provide an insurance run.
Bartow 10U 10, Northern-Columbus 0
Bartow County avenged its only tournament loss with a 10-0 blanking of Northern-Columbus Tuesday morning.
Lakiaya Banks led the Bartow offense by reaching base in each plate appearance. She was 3-for-4 and scored a pair of runs. She also reached on an infield error.
Harlee Thomason was 2-for-2 with a walk and scored three times. Pitcher Kamryn Smith was 2-for-3, and Brie Patterson singled and tripled in a 2-for-4 performance. Elizabeth Hartsfield went 1-for-3 with a walk and scored a run. Haley Collum walked twice and scored two runs while Alivia Joslin also walked and scored one run.
Bartow 10U 10, Vine-Ingle 9
Both teams were scoreless through three innings before Bartow took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning. Bartow then added eight more runs in the fifth inning for a 10-0 advantage.
Vine Ingle scored five runs in their half of the fifth and threatened with four more in the sixth, but the locals held on for a one-run victory.
Bartow scored two runs in the fourth inning on three walks and a single by Kamryn Smith. Their eight-run fifth inning resulted from seven walks, a Vine Ingle error, and a three-run home run by Brie Patterson.
Aiden Smith had two hits including a fifth inning homer for Vine Ingle. Irene Green also added two hits.
In addition to her homer, Patterson also added a sixth inning single. Smith, who fanned nine in the circle, added a stolen base and scored a run. Haley Collum walked twice and scored two runs. Lakiaya Banks walked and scored a run. Harley Hannah also reached on a base on balls.
Bartow 10U 2, Toccoa 1
In Monday’s elimination game, Toccoa scored its only run in the fourth inning when Bailee Shedd singled in front of an RBI double by Carson Stone.
Bartow answered in their half of the final inning with a pair of runs on their only two hits of the game.
A one-out single by Lakiaya Banks and a single by Kamryn Smith started the rally. The hits were followed by a two-run error by the Toccoa shortstop that allowed Banks and Smith to score and gave Bartow a 2-1 win.
The late rally spoiled a 13 strikeout performance by Toccoa pitching.
Georgia Little League 10U State Softball Tournament schedule:
(all games at Hamilton Crossing Park)
Sat. July 7 -- Northern-Columbus 8, West Point 6
Sat. July 7 -- Oconee County 11, Toccoa 3
Sun. July 8 -- Northern-Columbus 10, Bartow County 0
Sun. July 8 -- Oconee County 5, Vine Ingle 3
Mon. July 9 — Vine Ingle 5, West Point 4 (West Point eliminated)
Mon. July 9 — Bartow County 2, Toccoa 1 (Toccoa eliminated)
Mon. July 9 — Oconee County 7, Northern-Columbus 4
Mon. July 9 — Bartow County 10, Vine Ingle 9 (Vine Ingle eliminated)
Tue. July 10 — Bartow County 10, Northern-Columbus 0 (Northern eliminated)
Tue. July 10 — Bartow County 6, Oconee County 2 (championship round)
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME — Wed. July 11 — 10 am — Bartow County vs. Oconee County
Georgia state tournament winner advances to the Tournament of State Champions that begins July 20 in Clarksville, TN.
The Bartow County Little League 12U softball all-stars lost 4-3 to West Point Monday and were eliminated from the Georgia State Tournament. West Point was later eliminated by Dudley Little League. Bartow finished the tournament with a 1-2 record. Dudley Little League and Harris County Little League are scheduled to meet Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. in a winner-take-all championship game. Both teams have one loss in the tournament after splitting a pair of games against one another.
The Georgia Little League Softball state champion will advance to the Little League Softball Southeast Region at Warner Robins beginning July 26.
Results for Bartow County Little League and Cartersville Little League provided by the respective leagues and Georgia Little League Baseball and Softball. Bartow County Recreation Department and Cartersville Recreation Department baseball and softball teams participating in Georgia Recreation and Parks Association are reported to Bartow Sports Zone by the respective recreation departments and presented on Bartow Sports Zone by Play It Again Sports at 410 Cherokee Place in Cartersville.
