Heritage and Gordon Lee entered this week's GHSA softball state tournaments in Columbus as favorites to win championships, and neither did anything in Wednesday's opening round to deviate from those predictions.
Heritage (25-2-1) used another dominating outing from pitcher Addie Edwards to avenge last year's loss in Columbus to eventual Class AAAA champion West Laurens, 2-0, while Gordon Lee (29-3-1) continued its recent hot streak with a 9-0 win over Harlem in Class AAA.
Dade County and Trion lost close games in Class A Division I and will need to come through the losers bracket to make the weekend in the double-elimination event.
Edwards allowed only four hits and struck out 12 batters in a complete game against West Laurens (25-6). It was scoreless entering the bottom of the sixth, when Heritage finally broke through against West Laurens ace Tannah Cobb with two runs.
The speedy Bailee Hollis (3-for-3) led off with an infield single and was sacrificed to second by Harper Carstens. Macie Collins followed with an RBI single to left field, and two batters later, Jenna Ryans lined a single to right field for a 2-0 lead.
"We played a little small ball in the sixth after Bailee got on, and we don't do that much," Heritage coach Megan Crawford said. "Harper did a great job getting the bunt down, and Macie came up and got us the run with a double and Jenna got the next run in, and that was all she wrote.
"Addie did her thing, which she has done all year. Her and our catcher, Abbie Young, work so well together, and they were in sync again today. We were in this same position against West Laurens last year, and we didn't want deja vu to happen again. We wanted some revenge there, and the girls came through."
Heritage, seeking the program's fourth state title, will face Whitewater — which defeated Heritage's Region 7 rival Sonoraville 2-1 on Wednesday — at 3 p.m. Thursday.
Gordon Lee started fast and finished strong against Harlem (24-9). Anna Logan keyed a three-run first inning with a two-run single, with Gracie Helton adding a run in the third with a solo homer. Tenslee Wilson, who was 2-for-3, hit a two-run homer to end the game via the mercy rule in the sixth inning.
Sydney Garrett was strong in the circle with a one-hitter and 11 strikeouts.
"Sydney threw well. Her changeup was on, and when that's on, she's really good," Gordon Lee coach Dana Mull said. "We've had a little bit of a lull since we last played, but the girls were ready to get out there and they took care of business.
"You make it tough on yourself if you lose that first game. It was nice to see how confident the girls were today. It doesn't matter how many times you've been here, there are still emotions you have to deal with, and our experience showed today."
Gordon Lee, with 11 state titles in program history, faces Hebron Christian — a 9-8 winner over Pike County on Wednesday — at 1 p.m. Thursday.
In Class A, Dade County (21-7) lost 1-0 to Heard County despite another strong outing from senior pitcher Kayleigh Warnock, who allowed five hits and struck out seven batters in six innings.
Heard's Makenley Lasseter drove in the game's lone run with a single in the fourth inning, but the Lady Wolverines let a couple of scoring chances get away. They had a runner picked off at second base with two on and two out in the fifth inning, and in the seventh they had the tying run at second with one out but couldn't make anything of it.
Rylee Byram and Falyn Baggett had two hits each for Dade, which will face Metter at 5 p.m. Thursday in an elimination game.
Trion (15-7-1) also fell into the losers bracket via shutout as Bacon County (22-3) scored all of its three runs in the fifth inning, though each of the runs were unearned. The Lady Bulldogs, who mustered only three hits versus Bacon's Cloe Pless, had a runner thrown out at home in the third inning and did not score after loading the bases with no one out in the seventh.
I'Ziah McCutchins had two hits for Trion, which faces Temple at 5 p.m. Thursday in an elimination game.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com.