Class 5A
Northside-Columbus 3, Jones County 1
            The road to defending the 5A title became tougher for Jones County, which outhit Northside by one and played error-free softball, but stranded twice as many runners.

            The Greyhounds led 1-0 for the first four inning, scoring in the first on an error that landed Shayla Pennington on third. She came in shortly after that on Destin Howard’s single.

            Jones County stranded two in the third after a pair of two-out hits, one in the fourth after a two-out walk, had a double-play kill a leadoff runner in the fifth, and left two more on in the sixth.

            Northside got all three runs in the fifth, on a solo homer, walk and steal, and two singles.

            Howard had two singles, and fanned 14 with two walks and four hit in a complete-game loss. The Greyhound were whiffed only five times, but drew only one walk.

Woodland 11, Jones County 0; Jones County eliminated
            The defending champs’ season ended in a harsh way, with Wildcats pitcher Lainey Baker throwing a one-hit, 10-strikeout, no walk five-inning shutout.

            Woodland put it away early, with a pair of two-run innings followed by seven in the third. The 19-14-2 Wildcats scored the most runs against the Greyhounds this year, handing Jones County (23-7) its second shutout of the season.

 

Class 4A
West Laurens 8, Cedartown 0
West Laurens 3, Flowery Branch 1
            The Raiders stayed alive with a pair of clutch wins boosted by clutch pitching.

            In the second win, the Raiders scored single runs in the first three innings, and got a seven-strikeout, no-walk four-hit complete-game win from Taylor Sapp. Hudson Smith had two of the Raiders’ six hits.

            Flowery Branch scored its run in the second,  Sapp retiring the next 11 batter, and then the final six in order.

            Next: vs. North Oconee, Saturday, 11 a.m. Winner plays at 1 p.m.

 

Class A Public
ACE 3, Lanier County 0
            The major pitchers duel went ACE’s way when the Gryphons scored two in the top of the sixth, and then Dixiana Sims shut the door in the final two innings.

            Lizzie Bridges drilled a one-out double to left and advanced on Laney Bridges’ bunt, on which she reached on an error, that allowed Lizzie to score. Laney then came in on a passed ball.

            Lizzy Mitchell and the Bridges each had a hit for ACE, Laney Bridges adding to her team-high hit total to 52. Mitchell belted her 18th double, a team high, and Laney Bridges added to her team lead with two stolen bases.

            Sims then struck out the side in the sixth on 13 pitches, and did it again in the seventh on 13 pitches again. She struck out 18 batters and walked two in the one-hitter.

            Lanier County’s season ended despite 13 strikeouts and no walks on a three-hitter from Jaden Benefield.

            Sims improved to 23-0 with her 13 double-digit strikeout game, and fourth in a row. She has 163 strikeouts in 136 innings, and has given up only 61 hits. Opponents are hitting .104 against her.

            Next: ACE vs. Emanuel County (2-1 winner over Social Circle), Saturday, 9 a.m. Winner plays at 3 p.m., loser at 1 p.m.

Crawford County 11, Telfair County 2
            The quiet bats of Thursday were mighty noisy a day later for Crawford County, one of the few four seeds to reach Columbus.

            The Eagles blew the game open with six runs in the third for a 9-0 lead, graciously accepting eight Telfair County errors through three innings for six unearned runs.

            Crawford County had seven hits to that point, with no walks. The Eagles added a pair of runs in the fifth, Telfair County managing a couple one-run innings, and kicking around no more errors.

            Jaimee Hudson, Rylie Youngblood, Bailey Carreker, and Kryssi Maddox each had two hits for the Eagles, Youngblood with two RBI and a homer and Hudson with two stolen bases.

            Riley Scaggs went all five innings, with no walks and seven strikeouts in the seven-hitter.

Social Circle 20, Crawford County 6; Crawford County eliminated
            The upstart Eagles seemed primed to keep the season rolling, marching out to a 5-1 lead after
two. But Social Circle roared back with 19 runs in the last three innings, capping it with seven in the seventh, for a season high run total, and the most runs scored against the 16-9 Eagles.

            Bailey Carreker had two hits and three RBI and Rylie Youngblood two hits and two RBI for Crawford County.

 

Class A Private
Wesleyan 3, Tattnall 0
            Hailey Daughtry kept Tattnall in the hunt despite the Trojans being held to one hit through six innings, but the Wolves put two across in the top of the seventh and the Trojans couldn’t muster enough offense in their half and fell to the losers’ bracket.

            The Trojans (22-6) suffered their first shutout of the season at an inopportune time. Wesleyan improved to 25-4.

            Caroline Patterson managed a fourth-inning double after 10 of the first 11 Tattnall batters had been retired. She was stranded at second. Isabelle Pecorilli broke a stretch of 10 straight outs with a two-out double in the seventh, but the game ended on a pop-out a batter later.

            Wesleyan’s Rylee Kutter got the best of 13 Trojans with strikeouts against one walk and two hits.

Tattnall 9, Mt. Paran 4
            The Trojans stayed alive with clutch hitting and pitching, both teams with nine hits but Mt. Paran leaving twice as many runners on and the Trojans surviving getting struck out 11 times. Carolina Patterson had a triple and homer, with two runs and three RBI. Kaitlyn Hallman and Isabelle Pecorilli had two hits each, Hallman scoring three times and winning pitcher Hailey Daughtry driving in two runs.

            It was tied at 2 through four, and then Tattnall bats perked up with four runs in the fifth and three in the sixth. The first three batters reached in the fifth, the first run coming in on a passed ball. Daughtry brought in two with a single to left, and Pecorilli followed with a run-scoring double.

            Daughtry went the distance, fanning four with a walk, two Mt. Paran pitchers whiffing 11 with two walks.

            Next: Tattnall vs. ELCA, Saturday, 9 a.m. Winner plays at 1 p.m.