COLUMBUS, Ga. -- As Dana Mull searched for answers, the look on the Gordon Lee High School softball coach's face said plenty.
The Lady Trojans had just lost 6-0 to Eagle's Landing Christian Academy in the Georgia Class A state title game Saturday. It not only marked the fourth consecutive season ELCA has beaten Gordon Lee for the championship, it was the most lopsided loss for the Lady Trojans during a 31-4 season. The second-worst loss came Friday night to the same ELCA team, 5-0 in the winners-bracket final.
In the Lady Trojans' three other games in Columbus this week, they outscored their opponents 31-1. No wonder, then, it took Mull a bit to get her thoughts together following Saturday's game in which the Lady Trojans committed twice as many errors (four) as they had hits.
"They just beat us," she said after a pause. "Do I think we could have beat them? Absolutely. But they just flat out beat us. That hasn't happened to us all year. That's the most runs anybody's scored on us all year, and it's hard to deal with it being the last game.
"Our girls are just as talented as they were, but you've got to have it, and these last two games they've had it and we didn't."
Mirroring Friday's game, ELCA (31-5) scored a first-inning run to get the quick upper hand on a Julia Echols single. Winning pitcher Megan Betsa homered opening the fourth inning; then the roof fell in on Gordon Lee the next inning. Three errors and three hits led to four runs and the end of its title hopes.
The Lady Trojans earned the right to play for the title by routing Providence Christian 15-1 in the losers-bracket final Saturday morning. Brenna Nation pitched a three-hitter and drove in four runs, while Lesslie Bohannon was 3-for-4 with four runs scored.
While the Lady Trojans left with the second-place trophy, two other northwest Georgia teams finished third. Heritage fell to Columbus Northside in Class AAA, while Northwest Whitfield lost to Whitewater in the AAAA losers-bracket final.
* Northside 2, Heritage 0: Surprising Northside, unranked when the tournament began, reached the title round on Haley Love's four-hit shutout of the Generals (28-11). Northside (20-13) scored a run in the first inning on Casey Googe's single and added another in the seventh on Love's single.
Heritage wasted a leadoff triple by Savannah Goldsmith in the second inning and left two runners on in the sixth.
"We didn't swing the bats particularly well all week, but that's typical of a state tournament, where most of the games are 1-0, 2-0," Heritage coach Steve Chattin said. "We had a couple of situations where we didn't execute well, so hopefully we can learn from that. Getting third place in our second year is a nice accomplishment for the girls and our school."
* Whitewater 2, Northwest Whitfield 0: The morning after losing an 11-inning heartbreaker to top-ranked Marist, the Lady Bruins came up short in trying to earn a title-round rematch. Whitewater (36-2) scored a run in the first inninig as Northwest freshman ace Emily Boyd, who threw 144 pitches the night before, hit a batter, walked two and threw a wild pitch.
The Lady Bruins (21-15) outhit Whitewater 5-3 but left two runners on base in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings.
"It took the wind out of us," Northwest coach Shane Ramsey said of Friday night's dramatic loss. "We were fighting it after the game and before this game. You could just tell. But that's what life's about: When you get down, you've got to get back up, and that's what our kids did. They competed today. Emily was tired. She was a little sore this morning, but she kept telling me she wanted to go, and she gave us a chance to win."
GHSA Championships in Columbus
Class A championship
EAGLE'S LANDING CHRISTIAN ACAD. 6,
GORDON LEE 0
Gordon Lee 000 000 0 -- 0 2 4
ELCA 100 140 x -- 6 5 0
WP: Megan Betsa, 6 Ks. LP: Jonia Taylor. HR: Betsa (ELCA). 2B: Symone Ball (ELCA). Highlights: Betsa 2-3, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Julia Echols, Michel Bell, Amber Athon RBI each (ELCA). Records: ELCA 31-5; Gordon Lee 31-4.
Losers-bracket final
GORDON LEE 15, PROVIDENCE CHRISTIAN 1
Gordon Lee 350 25 -- 15 12 0
Prodidence 100 00 -- 1 3 7
WP: Brenna Nation. LP: Kylee Kleinschmidt. 3B: Sam Taylor (GL). 2B: Chelsea Tarvin (GL). Highlights: Lesslie Bohannon 3-4, RBI, 4 runs; Nation 2-3, 4 RBIs; Tarvin 2-4, 2 RBIs, 3 runs; S. Taylor 2-4 (GL).
Class AAA losers-bracket final
NORTHSIDE (COLUMBUS) 2, HERITAGE 0
Northside 100 000 1 -- 2 5 0
Heritage 000 000 0 -- 0 4 2
WP: Haley Love, 7 Ks. LP: Allie Hillis, 5 Ks. 3B: Savannah Goldsmith (H). 2B: Laney Brittingham, Haley Elver (N). Highlights: Casey Googe, Love RBI each (N). Records: Northside 20-13; Heritage 28-11.
Class AAAA losers-bracket final
WHITEWATER 2, NORTHWEST WHITFIELD 0
Whitewater 110 000 0 -- 2 3 0
Northwest 000 000 0 -- 0 5 0
WP: Megan Toler. LP: Emily Boyd, 3-hitter. 2B: Woody, Johnson, Bartlett (W); Jessica Brown (NW). Highlights: Woody RBI (W); Amy Shampo 2-4 (NW). Records: Whitewater 36-2; Northwest 21-15.
Lindsey Young is a sports writer at the Chattanooga Times Free Press who started work at the Chattanooga News-Free Press 24 years ago. He covers the Northwest Georgia prep beat and NASCAR. Lindsey’s hometown is Ringgold, Ga., and he graduated from Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School. He received an associate’s degree from Dalton Junior College (now Dalton State) and a bachelor’s degree in communications from UTC. He has won several writing awards, including two Tennessee Sports ...
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