Sometimes a toss of the coin — even if it wasn't what was hoped for — can make all the difference.
Heritage softball coach Megan Crawford badly wanted the final at-bat in Thursday's GHSA Class AAAA state tournament matchup with Whitewater in Columbus, so she went to her go-to call, tails, in the pregame coin toss.
It came up heads, which turned out to be a blessing when Heritage scored three runs in the top of the first en route to a 10-0, five-inning win.
Heritage (26-2-1) will face North Oconee (29-6) at 5 p.m. Friday in the winners-bracket final.
Fortune wasn't on Gordon Lee's side as the Lady Trojans fell 1-0 to Hebron Christian in Class AAA and must now go through the losers bracket to win their 12th state title.
And in Class A Division I, Dade County stayed alive with an 8-0 win over Metter in an elimination game, but Region 7 rival Trion was eliminated with a 10-6 loss to Temple.
"You always want to be the home team, but tails failed me today," Heritage's Crawford said. "It turned out to be a good thing for us. From the start, the girls had great approaches at the plate."
Bailee Hollis began the game with a bunt single, and Harper Carstens followed with a two-run homer. Ella Blansit added a solo home run in the opening frame to give ace Addie Edwards more than enough support.
Edwards fashioned her fourth consecutive shutout, allowing two hits and striking out three batters in four innings. Hollis finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, with Carstens, Landry White and Abbie Young each adding two hits.
Crawford, whose team has now avenged both of its losses from last year's trip to Columbus, was as pleased with her team's mental approach as she was the physical side, especially with North Oconee looming.
I'm super proud of them," she said. "The girls were so focused that they didn't realize we are in the final four until we were back to the hotel. North Oconee is a very well-coached team, and we'll have to have our 'A' game tomorrow just as we've had the first two days."
Gordon Lee (29-4-1) fell victim to one of the best pitching performances of the tournament so far — and a very wide strike zone _ in losing to Hebron Christian (26-8).
Hebron's Gwen Hill pitched a two-hitter and struck out 17 batters without issuing a walk to silence a Gordon Lee lineup that had averaged more than 10 runs a game this month. Hill took advantage of a strike zone that grew both at the top of the strike zone and outside to frustrate the Lady Trojans' batters and their coach.
"We had the worst possible umpire we could have had today for their pitcher," Gordon Lee coach Dana Mull said. "With the umpire we had yesterday, we would have drawn several walks. However, we didn't make the adjustments we needed, and she used his strike zone to her advantage."
EG Hixon led off the game for Gordon Lee with a triple, but Hill used the generous zone to strike out the next three batters. She would allow only Abby Logan's one-out double in the fifth the rest of the way, getting out of that jam with a pair of strikeouts.
Hebron scored its lone run after Sydney Samples reached on an error to lead off the fourth, with that followed by Britt Sissom's bunt single, a sacrifice bunt and Lauren Kyranaki's sacrifice fly. Gordon Lee's Sydney Garrett took the tough-luck loss after going seven innings and allowing five hits and striking out nine batters.
Gordon Lee faces Jackson at 11 a.m. Friday and will need five consecutive victories to win the championship in the double-elimination format.
Dade County (22-7) took advantage of four Metter errors to score five unearned runs and bounce back from Wednesday's opening loss in Class A Division I. Kayleigh Warnock went each of the six innings in the circle for Dade, allowing four hits and striking out 10 batters.
KK Castleberry had two hits, an RBI and scored a run, with Lexi Lawson driving in two runs and Riley Byram scoring a pair for Dade, which will face Bacon County at 11 a.m. Friday.
The season is over for Trion (15-8-1) after Temple scored five runs — two on Katelyn Deloach's homer — in the first inning to erase a 2-0 Trion lead. Aubree Weaver was 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, and Mollie Edge had two hits, including a two-run homer in the fifth, for Trion.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com.