Columbus rallies past Harris County to force three-way tie in region
HAMILTON, Ga. -- Columbus High softball coach Jamie Wilson knows how much determination her team has after Wednesday's game at Harris County.
Down 9-3 heading into the top of the fifth inning, the Lady Blue Devils scored 12 unanswered runs to defeat Harris County 15-9 in a key Region 1-AAAAA matchup.
With the win, Columbus moves into a three-way tie with Harris County and Northside for the top seed in the upcoming region tournament. All three teams have 9-2 records and one more region game to play this week.
If all three remain tied and since each split with the other two during the season, runs allowed against the other two teams is the next tiebreaker. With Northside allowing 16, Harris County 25 and Columbus 29, it appears Northside would earn the No. 1 seed. Northside is also the host for the tournament, which is scheduled for next week.
"This win gives us a lot of confidence moving forward," Wilson said. "I felt like we beat ourselves last time we played Harris County and I saw us unraveling today and I got really nervous. However, the girls pushed through and, once we got the lead back, the girls' confidence level went sky high and that could really help us in the region and state playoffs."
Columbus got on the board early scoring a first-inning run thanks to speedster Nicole Humphries, who began the game with a leadoff single and then proceeded to steal second. She later scored on a Derykah Ray base hit.
In the third, the Lady Blue Devils increased their lead to 3-0 with one swing of the bat as Erin Smith launched a two-run home run over the left field wall.
From there, however, things quickly changed.
In the bottom of the third, the Tigers sent 12 hitters to the plate, scoring nine runs on just four hits to take the big 9-3 lead. During the inning, Columbus starter Kaleigh Sullivan walked four straight hitters, which forced in three runs, while Emily Dansby had a two-run double to break the game open.
The Lady Blue Devils quickly went down in order in the fourth while Harris County threatened to add to its lead, putting runners on second and third with no outs. However, Sullivan got a grounder, strikeout and a flyout to escape the inning unharmed.
With Harris County just nine outs away from a region title, the Columbus bats came back alive in the fifth.
The inning began with four straight hits, with three not leaving the infield, to allow the Lady Blue Devils to inch back within five.
Later in the frame, Smith delivered again for Columbus singling in Anna Richardson to make it 9-5 before Rowan Stucky lined a doubled that ended up rolling to the center field wall to pull Columbus within two.
Breanna Rubio also had a sharp hit down the right field line that ended Columbus' five-run outburst and to make it a one-run game.
After Sullivan retired the Tigers in the fifth, the Lady Blue Devils went back on the attack scoring four more runs off of Harris County reliever Sydney Shackelford in the sixth to take a 12-9 lead. Smith and Stucky each continued their clutch hitting performances on the day as the pair singled in the tying and go-ahead runs, respectively.
The Lady Blue Devils added three more in the seventh. Smith had another run scoring hit, this time a RBI double off the left field wall.
Sullivan retired Harris County in order in the bottom half of the frame to cap off the come from behind victory.
"I didn't want to let my teammates down in a game like this," said Sullivan, who tossed the complete game effort. "Once we got the lead back, I was so excited and hyped and I couldn't let us down.
"It was probably one of the biggest in-game moments of my life."
Smith, who finished the game 4-for-5 with four RBIs, knew the importance of the win.
"It was huge, I mean it is Harris County, so we knew we had to win this game," Smith said. "When we started to come back, I was telling the girls not to let up because we saw what they did putting up nine runs in one inning.
"I didn't want us to get complacent and that really helped us late in the game."
Note: After the game, the Harris County School board dedicated the softball field in Ed Oliver's name. The former coach led the Tigers to the 2000 state championship and was also an assistant baseball coach under Bobby Howard at Columbus High.
Wednesday at Harris County
Columbus 102 054 3--15 20 1
Harris County 009 000 0--9 9 2
WP - Kaleigh Sullivan. LP - Sydney Shackelford. Hitting leaders - Columbus, Erin Smith 4-5, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 3 runs; Rowan Stucky 3-3, 2B, 3 RBI; Ridgeland, Lilly Hooper 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Emily Dansby 1-4, 2 RBI, 2B. Records - Columbus 14-11, 9-2 1-AAAAA, Harris County 14-10, 9-2 1-AAAAA. Next - Columbus vs. Hardaway today 4:30 p.m.; Harris County at LaGrange today 4:45 p.m.
This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 10:37 PM with the headline "Columbus rallies past Harris County to force three-way tie in region ."