Gordon Lee, LFO in state

DALTON, Ga. — Three northwest Georgia softball teams earned berths Saturday into the state tournament in Columbus, each taking a decidedly different path.

In Class AAA, Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe, after winning two games Friday, lost a 10-inning, 1-0 game to St. Pius X on Saturday but rebounded to defeat Region 6 and county rival Ringgold 3-0 for the Lady Warriors’ first state berth since 2004.

In Class AA, Calhoun had to win three games Saturday after falling into the losers bracket Friday night. The Lady Yellow Jackets, though, defeated Region 6 foes Rockmart and Adairsville, 4-3 and 2-0, to set up a do-or-die game with state power North Oconee.

Calhoun (32-5) needed 12 innings to advance, 4-3, to the school’s first fastpitch state tournament in a game that had more ups and downs than the stock market.

In Class A, Gordon Lee earned its sixth consecutive trip to Columbus with a resounding 17-0 win over Pace Academy, giving the Lady Trojans 34 runs in three games this weekend. Ringgold’s and Trion’s state dreams ended one win short.

* Class AA: Calhoun’s crazy Saturday reached a zenith in overtime against North Oconee. With the Titans’ Allie Watson and Calhoun’s Maddie Monroe matching zeroes, the game went into extra innings scoreless.

Each team missed scoring chances in the eighth, Calhoun leaving the bases loaded with no out and North Oconee having runners on third and second with no out. After an error allowed Calhoun to score one in the ninth, North Oconee matched it with a Watson sacrifice fly in the bottom half.

A wild pitch netted a run for the Lady Jackets in the 10th, but a Monroe throwing error in the bottom half gave the run right back. North Oconee nearly won the game when Chelsea Lee singled with two out, but Calhoun’s Tori Jones threw the runner out at home to prolong the game.

Monroe atoned in the 11th, her RBI single giving Calhoun yet another one-run lead. She had two out and two strikes on Kaci Wages, but the Titans third baseman laced a single to send it to the 12th. North Oconee’s third error in extra innings allowed Danielle Phillips to score what would be the game-winner, and then Monroe did the rest, striking out the first two North Oconee batters before getting Katie Garrett to ground out.

“I’ve never been through a game like that,” said Monroe, her face a mixture of tears and sweat. “I’ve never been so stressed. We let them stay in the game, but when we got that last run, I was determined to finish it. My girls played so hard that I couldn’t let it get away. I just had to bear down a little more.”

Monroe struck out 10 in the win over Rockmart, seven against Adarsville and 15 in the wild win over North Oconee.

* Class A: Gordon Lee pounded out 13 hits in the four-inning rout of the team that had defeated ranked teams Excel Christian and Providence Christian.

“I hope we’re peaking at the right time,” Lady Trojans coach Dana Mull said. “We’re hitting it at the right time. I really didn’t know what to expect in this game. But we were able to adjust to what their pitcher was doing with our second batter, and they never adjusted back. Getting five runs in the first was big.”

Molly Rodgers got the team going with an RBI double in that first inning, when Lesslie Bohannon batted in two runs with a double and Lacey Perry doubled in another. Bohannon and Shauna Gallahar drove in three runs each for the game, with winning pitcher Jonia Taylor (one-hitter) and Rodgers two each.

Trion found the going much tougher. Defending champion Eagle’s Landing Christian got a homer and one-hit, 15-strikeout pitching from senior star Hope Rush in the first game. The Lady Bulldogs did themselves no favors with six errors.

The Lady Bulldogs then fell short to Wesleyan, 4-2, in the deciding game.

* Class AAA: In what could have been her final game, LFO senior pitcher Jessica Penney turned in what may be the best game of her career. In the 3-0 win over Ringgold — LFO’s fourth consecutive win over the Lady Tigers — Penney pitched a perfect game.

“She just didn’t want to lose,” Lady Warriors coach Tony Ellis said. “To come back after a heartbreaking loss like we had against St. Pius and to pitch a perfect game against a team like Ringgold, she was just unbelievable.”

Penney allowed only four hits in the 10-inning first-game loss Saturday, the winning run scoring on a suicide squeeze when she was attempting to trying to walk the batter intentionally. The Lady Warriors (31-6), though, rebounded with three early runs against Ringgold, then rode Penney’s hot hand.

“I was very proud of the girls after losing like they did earlier,” said Ellis, whose team received RBI hits from Jodi Archer and Lindsey Lowe in the win. “I hated that we had to play Ringgold again. I would have liked to have seen us both go. But it’s nice to get back to Columbus.”