Trion sweeps Taylor County to reach Class A softball Elite Eight

photo Taylor County's Stormie Campbell (14) attempts to outrun Lindsey Shepherd's (22) throw during a best-of-three GHSA Class A series game between Taylor County and and Trion High at Trion High School in Trion, Ga., on Wednesday.

TRION, Ga. - A year ago at this time the Trion High School softball team was left to wonder what one more win might have meant. In the GHSA's Class A power ranking system, which decides the 16 teams chosen for the public and private school playoff fields, the Lady Bulldogs finished No. 17 on the public side.

Wednesday, the sixth-seeded team took out a year's frustration on Taylor County, sweeping the best-of-three series 2-0 and 13-2 and earning a trip to the Elite Eight in Columbus, Ga., next week.

"They finished just on the outside looking in and that made the girls hungry," Trion coach Jason Lanham said. "We learned from it and carried the momentum from a good late run and region runner-up finish into this year and we haven't let up. I'm so proud of what they've done. We had such great approaches today, and we won two very different games."

Trion (21-6) managed just seven hits in game one, but one of those was a two-run homer from Kerrigan Ramsey in the first inning. Peyton Henderson made the runs stand up, allowing six hits and stranding six runners. Taylor County had two runners on in both the third and fourth innings but Henderson never allowed a runner past second.

"We wanted to start out strong and we did," Ramsey said. "Then we didn't let up. We just made history in Trion -- we're the best team in school history and now we just have to finish it out."

The visitors tried to turn the tables in game two and took a 2-1 lead in the first inning on Brette Morre's two-run homer. However, the Trion bats woke up in the fourth inning as the Lady Bulldogs batted around, scoring four runs on three hits. Madison Martin plated the tying run on a bases-loaded single, but Taylor pitcher Savanna Swann retired the next two batters.

Jaden Morrison, though, walked on four pitches to score what proved to be the winning run and Trion added two more on a wild pitch and catcher's interference call. The lead grew to 7-2 in the fifth on four hits, including doubles from Rayven Lawrence, Anna Floyd and Carly Keen, and the Lady Bulldogs never let up.

"We wanted to show Trion that we're capable of making it to Columbus," said Lawrence, who later added a two-run homer. "Teams may have not heard of us, but they aren't overlooking us any more. We're going to tear it up in Columbus."

Lawrence had three of Trion's 12 hits in game two, with Evans and Henderson adding two each. Lindsey Shepherd pitched a complete-game, five-hitter for the win.

"There are eight single-A teams left on our side and we're one of them, and that's the biggest thing," Lanham gushed. "We normally don't play 13-2 games, but we were able to relax in the second game and wore it out. We played great defense as well and with our pitchers a few runs and great defense goes a long way. We've guaranteed ourselves more softball in late October and that's one of our big goals."

Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.

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