Tattnall, Monticello fall into loser's bracket, play way into GHSA state title games Saturday morning
Tattnall and Monticello fell into the loser’s bracket on Friday and then played their way into Saturday morning championship games at the GHSA softball finals in Columbus.
Monticello lost 1-0 to Rockmart to fall into the Class AA loser’s bracket, but then beat Banks County to advance to the finals. Tattnall lost a tough pitchers battle to Wesleyan and then hammered Eagle’s Landing Christian to earn another crack at Wesleyan in the Class A private final.
Both games are at 9 a.m., with an “if” game to follow right after if Wesleyan and Rockmart win.
Houston County won two games before being eliminated late, as did Dodge County, FPD and GMC.
In the other finals: Creekview and Allatoona in 6A, Locust Grove and Wayne County in 5A, Northside-Columbus and Stephens County in 4A, Calhoun and Cook in AAA, and Trion/Gordon Lee in Class A public.
GHSA Tournament
Friday
Class AAAAAA
Houston County 9, Greenbrier 6
The Bears had to hold on after taking a 9-2 lead with four in the top of the seventh when Greenbrier scored four in the bottom half. Grace Hardee's three-run homer keyed the top of the seventh for the Bears, who survived three errors and a wild pitch. Rylee Lamb, who pitched the first two innings, added a homer and three RBI. Taylor Peebles was 3-for-4 with 2 RBI, and Madi Campbell had two hits.
Houston County 5, Pope 4
Down 4-2, Houston County scored one in the fourth and two in the fifth to survive and advance. Megan Whitaker and Lauren Ross had RBI singles in the fifth, scoring Hardee and D Dunn, the game-winner coming with two outs. Taylor Peebles got the win with 4.2 innings of relief. Whitaker had three hits and three RBI.
Evans 3, Houston County 1
Evans got all it needed in the third inning of the pitchers battle, holding the Bears down until the seventh when Grace Hardee led off with a homer. But Evans got the next three Bears in order to end Houston County’s season. Taylor Peebles whiffed five with one walk and three hits in getting the loss.
Class AAAAA
Carrollton 8, Jones County 3, Jones County eliminated
Class AAAA
Madison County 18, Perry 2, Perry eliminated
Northside-Columbus 7, West Laurens 0
Stephens County 7, West Laurens 2, West Laurens eliminated
Class AAA
Cook 12, Rutland 4
Rutland was in a tight game through four innings, down 5-4 to Cook. And then the Hornets scored seven in the top of the fifth to end the Hurricanes' season at 19-11. Sadi Ratterree and Bailey Caldwell each had two hits for Rutland, which suffered an error and hit batter in Cook's big inning, which included a double and triple.
Next: Rutland eliminated.
Class AA
Banks County 9, Bleckley County 0
A bad day on offense and defense ended the Royals' season. Bleckley County was held to three hits and committed six errors, leading to eight unearned runs.
Dodge County 9. Bacon County 2
Dodge County 2, Harlem 2
Banks County 2, Dodge County 1, Dodge County eliminated
Rockmart 1, Monticello 0; Monticello 2, Banks County 0.
Next: Monticello vs. Rockmart, 9 a.m., Saturday
Class A Public
GMC 9, Marion County 3
Seven runs in the third - four coming on Kate McGhee's grand slam - was more than enough for pitchers Taylor Scott and Bella Herring. Scott fanned seven with no walks in 5.2 innings. McGhee also had a double for a two-hit game, along with Makenna Talcott and Tara MacCartee.
GMC 5, Echols County 3
GMC came up big at the end with two runs in the sixth and in the seventh to pull out the win. The game-winning runs came with two outs on an error and a passed ball. Laila Long and Whitley Ward had run-scoring singles in the sixth. Ward, Kate McGhee and Talcott each had two hits for GMC.
Trion 12, GMC 6
GMC’s season came to an end despite outhitting Trion 14-12. The Bulldogs also had one more error. They had an error and wild pitch in Trion’s game-clinching five-run seventh. GMC led 3-2 after three, but Trion scored four in the fourth – aided by two errors and a passed ball - to take control.
Class A Private
Stratford 5, George Walton 0
Tori Dover got the win in relief and added some offense along the way for the Eaglettes. Dover came on with the bases loaded in the sixth and held George Walton from scoring.
ELCA 4, Stratford 3, Stratford eliminated
ELCA got the winning run on a bases-loaded walk in the sixth inning after the Eaglettes took a 3-2 lead with two runs in the fifth. ELCA survived three errors, thanks to holding Stratford to three hits. Tori Dover drove in all three Stratford runs with a double and bases-loaded walk. Palmer Pinholster struck out 13 Stratford batters.
FPD 4, Mount de Sales 0
FPD finally got to Jordyn Partain with two runs in the fifth and sixth innings while Karsen Ochs threw a three-hitter with six strikeouts and a walk for the Vikings. Cassie Sutton drove in two runs and Sadie Frame had two hits while courtesy ru nner Gabby Bosse scored twice for the defending state champs.
FPD 8, Prince Avenue 0; ELCA 2, FPD 0, FPD eliminated
Wesleyan 2, Tattnall 1
The pitchers dual went to Wesleyan, thanks to a two-run third. Wesleyan had three hits to two for Tattnall, which stranded seven runners to one for Wesleyan. The Trojans made Wesleyan throw 128 pitches to just 73 for Ashleigh Morton, but the Wolves struck out 11.
Tattnall 12, ELCA 1
The Trojans got the earlier loss out of their system with runs in four straight innings after ELCA took a 1-0 lead after one. A six-run fifth made it a five-inning game after three in the third and two in the fourth put the Trojans in control. Allie Gordon’s two-run double keyed the third and her homer handled the scoring in the fourth. She had four RBI and two hits, while Courtney Ball and Logan Childs each had two hits and two RBI, Carley Ingle adding a pair of hits. Ashleigh Morton fanned six with two walks and two hits for the complete-game win.
Next: Tattnall vs. Wesleyan, 9 a.m., Saturday, “if” game at 11 a.m.