UPDATE:
FRIDAY, OCT. 27
After a hard-fought, 5-4, win over Pope, Houston County fell out of the GHSA Class AAAAAA state playoffs with a 3-1 loss to Evans a few hours later.
Things – all of which took place at the Columbus Softball Complex Friday – started off well for Taylor Peebles. After two innings, she had given up a walk, but not a hit.
Then came the third. The inning started off with a strikeout, but an error put Aly Reynolds on board. She moved to second on a passed ball and to third on Sydney Baker’s single. She scored on an error, but it wouldn’t have mattered. Leah Powell’s homerun would have gotten her in anyway.
With Powell also on the mound, Houston County was also struggling offensively. Peebles singled in the first, but after that, the Lady Bears went three-up, three-down over the next four innings.
They got their second single in the sixth, and only Grace Hardee’s homerun kept them from being shut out.
Against Pope, Houston County started out with two runs in the first. Pope answered with one in the bottom of the inning and then went ahead with three in the third. The Lady Bears, out-hitting their opponent 12-9, then scored one in the fourth and two in the fifth for the win.
Megan Whitaker went 3-4 and drove in three and Lauren Ross went 2-4 with an RBI to lead the offense.
Peebles earned the win after entering the game in the third. She scattered a couple of hits while walking one.
10 a.m. start – It was not without its scary moment(s) – a controversial one as well – but Houston County was able to advance to the next round of the GHSA Class AAAAAA playoffs Friday, with a 9-6 win over Greenbrier.
The Lady Bears were to take on Pope at 2 p.m. today. Both are in the loser’s bracket – the field down to six, with only Creekview and Allatoona undefeated.
Houston County had little trouble the vast majority of the game. Greenbrier did take the early lead with a run in the bottom of the first, but the Lady Bears put up five in the second to go well out in front. The Lady Wolfpack cut it to three with a run in the second, but four scoreless innings followed.
Even better were the four insurance runs Houston County added in the seventh.
They proved to be critical considering the fact Greenbrier not only answered but had the bases loaded with two outs and the winning run at the plate. A groundout to Megan Whitaker – her stepping on the bag – finally eliminated the threat.
Offensively, Grace Hardee went 1-3 with a walk, but also drove in three with a homerun.
Also Rylee Lamb, who worked the first two innings, was 2-4 – one of hers a homerun – and also earned three RBIs. Taylor Peebles was 3-4 and drove in two and Madi Campbell 2-4 with one driven in.
Four singles, three doubles, one triple, three walks and two errors contributed to a nightmare first inning for Perry and a subsequent loss and elimination from the GHSA Class AAAA state tournament Friday in Columbus.
The Lady Panthers lost 18-2 in three innings. Madison scored 14 in that aforementioned first and added its other four in the bottom of the inning.
Perry managed two in the third on a couple of doubles and singles – all of its hits. The first two were attributable to Terra Odom and Annie Chance. The last two belonged to Lauren Heath and Emma Pruitt. Chance had one RBI and Heath the other. She – Heath – was thrown out at home to end the ballgame and the Lady Panthers’ season.
THURSDAY, OCT. 26
Only one team has had Creekview’s number so far this year: Allatoona. It beat the Lady Grizzles twice – once by one run and once by two – during the regular season.
In 31 other matchups, no other squad of ladies has been able to crack the win column.
Houston County was the latest of those. It fell to the Canton school 5-0 in the opening round of the GHSA Class AAAAAA Elite Eight, Tuesday at the Columbus Softball Complex.
Creekview scored one in the first, one in the fifth then added three insurance runs in the sixth. It out-hit the Lady Bears 8-3. With Ashton Maloney on the mound (two Ks and a walk) for the duration, it was definitely a tough task, but had Houston County gotten on board in the first, who knows?
That table was set when Taylor Peebles reached on an error and Grace Hardee followed her with a single. A groundout advanced both into scoring position, but Maloney coaxed a fly ball out of Megan Whitaker.
A pair of walks by Rylee Lamb – a total of five were highly uncharacteristic of her – loaded the bases for the Lady Grizzles in the bottom half of the inning, but they were still forced to resort to a sacrifice fly to get the runner in.
Granted the Lady Bears went in order in the second, third and fifth innings and managed only a hit in the fourth, a walk in the sixth and its last single in the seventh.
The loss dropped Houston County down into the loser’s bracket where they will play the loser between Cambridge and Greenbrier. That game is set for Friday at 10 a.m.
Perry also lost its Elite Eight opener. The Lady Panthers fell to Marist 14-0. Consequently, they will face off against Madison, which lost to West Laurens 9-4. That game is scheduled for Friday at noon.
