State softball tournament update: Northside responds like defending champions
They responded like defending state champions.
The day after losing their opening game in the Georgia Class AAAA state tournament, the Northside Patriots bounced back to keep their hopes alive as they seek a second straight title at the South Commons Softball Complex in Columbus.
Northside beat West Laurens 7-2 Friday evening then shut out LaFayette 5-0 Friday night. The Patriots will play Madison County at 10:45 a.m. Saturday on Field 5.
They will have to win three or maybe even four games Saturday to complete their back-to-back championship quest. But that daunting challenge wouldn’t have been a possibility without taking care of business Friday.
The Patriots jumped out to 3-0 lead against West Laurens with one run apiece in the first three innings. Then they poured on the offense with two runs each in the fifth and sixth for a 7-0 lead before allowing two runs in the seventh.
Northside’s top batters in the game were senior Emily Holmes (3 hits, 2 RBI), senior Sammie Cotton (3 hits), senior Kennedi Bedell (2 hits) and junior Ireland Cavanaugh (2 RBI).
The pitching victory went to junior Raelee Weaver. She tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out five.
The Patriots totaled 15 hits and one error. West Laurens finished with six hits and five errors.
In the victory over LaFayette, Cavanaugh pitched a complete-game shutout with four strikeouts.
The Patriots again took command early, scoring once in the first inning and twice in the second. They added two insurance runs in the seventh.
The leading hitters for the Patriots were junior Mary Beth Cahalan (2 hits, 1 walk, 2 RBI) and sophomore Karlee Fuller (2 hits).
Northside totaled eight hits and one error. LaFayette finished with four hits and three errors.
Thursday, the Patriots lost 6-5 to the Heritage-Catoosa Generals,
Trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning, senior Jada Chadwick’s solo homer sparked Northside. The Patriots scored two more runs in the sixth to cut the deficit to 4-3. Heritage scored twice in the top of the seventh for insurance runs that proved essential as the Patriots also scored twice in the bottom of the inning on senior Gabi Apiag’s solo home run and Weaver’s RBI single.
The Patriots totaled seven hits and one error. Heritage finished with 11 hits and one error.
Marion County goes 1-2
In the Class A public school tournament, the Marion County Eagles were eliminated Friday night with a 6-2 loss to Bowdon.
“We’re down but also proud to be able to get here a second year in a row and experience this atmosphere again” said Marion assistant coach John Dimitri, who led the team this season while head coach David Wells battles cancer. “We won a game (Thursday), but today wasn’t our day. Our heads are still held high.We represented Marion County really well. We had a lot of fans here and a lot of support.”
Trailing 3-0 after the first inning, the Eagles cut the deficit to 4-2 going into the seventh but didn’t get any closer.
Marion senior Ansley Whitley homered in the fifth, and sophomore Lexi Exum scored in the sixth when a Bowdon outfielder dropped senior Kilby Kirksey’s fly ball.
Earlier on Friday, errors helped and hurt Marion County on the wet field against Gordon Lee. Unfortunately, for the Eagles, their errors hurt more as they lost 5-1.
After leading 1-0 by scoring on a Gordon Lee error, Marion allowed an unearned run in the third inning. Then more Marion errors fueled Gordon Lee’s four-run fifth.
“We gave them extra chances,” Dimitri said.
Marion got off to a winning start in the tournament Thursday with a 5-3 comeback victory over Seminole County.
“The girls are pumped up,” Dimitri said Thursday night. “That was a huge win to take the next step. Last year, we lost the first two games (in the state tournament). So this year, our goal was to win the first game and take it day by day.”
The Eagles trailed 3-1 but scored once in the top of the fourth inning, twice in the fifth and once in the seventh.
Marion twins Ansley and Ashley Whitley led the way.
Ansley pitched a complete-game victory and hit a sole home run in the fourth inning to start the comeback.
With two outs in the fifth, freshman Brea Miller came through with a base hit, then Ashley followed with a two-run homer to put the Eagles ahead.
Marion totaled four hits and three errors. Seminole finished with three hits and three errors.
Mark Rice, 706-576-6272, @MarkRiceLE.
This story was originally published October 25, 2018 at 8:17 PM.