Rylee Lamb’s walk-off, two-out single in the bottom of the seventh gave Houston County exactly what it needed to sweep Richmond Hill in the first round of the GHSA Class AAAAAA state softball tournament.
The Lady Bears won 9-8 as a result. The inning started with Megan Whitaker’s single. Kendall Huelsman sacrified her to second. The Lady Wildcats brought Alaina Lucas into the ballgame. She struck out Lauren Ross swinging. That brought up Lamb who singled to center to bring in Whitaker.
It wasn’t the first time Lamb had been hero for the day – one among many. She faced off against Lucas in Game 1 and pitched a five-hit shutout. The Lady Bears won that one 9-0. Lamb also struck out five and walked one as Houston County pushed two runs across in the second, three in the third, one in the fourth and three in the sixth. It out-hit its host 9-5.
Whitaker drove in three of those while going 2-3 – one a double. She also scored twice. Huelsman also drove in three. She went 2-3 – one of those a double as well – and walked. She scored one.
Also, Bobbi Poff went 1-3 but drove in two.
Huelsman – another hero – also had a two-run homerun in the fifth inning in Game 2. It was huge in the sense that Richmond Hill had scored four runs in the top of the inning and were threatening to pull away.
It, the visitor in the second game, started with two in the first. The Lady Bears answered with three. Huelsman was again right in the middle of it. Her double brought in Madi Campbell, who had begun the inning with a single, Taylor Peebles, who had walked and Grace Hardee, who had also singled.
After the Lady Wildcats went back out front with two in the third, Hardee tied it back up with a homerun in the bottom of the inning.
Houston County took the lead with one in the fourth. That came on an RBI single by Campbell, which brought in Lauren Ross, who had started the inning off with a single.
Then came the aforementioned fifth, and following a scoreless sixth by both, came the dramatic conclusion provided by Lamb.
Huelsman finished the game 2-3 with five RBIs and one scored. Hardee was 3-4 with the RBI and three scored.
The Lady Bears used four pitchers to secure the victory. Peebles pitched two innings. She gave up four hits and four runs while fanning two. Olivia Brown worked three innings, gave up five hits and four runs as well. She struck out one and walked on. Lamb worked the next two and was perfect.
If the sweep wasn’t good enough news, there was more. Lakeside, Evans, the No. 4 team out of Region 3, upset No. 1 seed Mundy’s Mill, also with a sweep (4-1, 8-0). That means the Lady Bears, the No. 3 out of Region 1, which host next week (Oct. 18, 19).
Elsewhere, Effingham County was none too kind as host for Northside Friday. The Lady Rebels – the No. 1 seed out of Region 2 and coming in with a 17-5 overall and 11-1 record in their region – swept the Lady Eagles. They won the first game 15-0 in three innings and the second 17-3 in five innings.
Northside had only one hit in the first game thanks to the effort of Hayley Dickerson. She struck out four and walked one. The hit belonged to Makalie King. Effingham County had 10 hits. It also had a 10-run first and scored its final five in the third.
The second contest started out just as grim, as the Lady Rebels pushed seven across in the first. They added four in the second and one in the third before the Lady Eagles scored their three.
All of Northside’s runs in the second inning came in the third. They were down 12-0 by then. Kylie Ussery began the inning with a walk. Stephanie Ruffin replaced her with a fielder’s choice. Amya Smith moved her to second with a single and Makalie King loaded the bases with another walk. Ruffin scored on Deja Cheatham’s ground out and the next two came in on Kyle Rosell’s triple.
That was to do it, although the Lady Eagles did leave the bases loaded in the fourth.
