RINGGOLD, Ga. - Postseason softball is an animal of a different color, where winning is often not pretty.
With that in mind, Heritage first-year coach Jason Carter tried to put Thursday's 8-7 Region 7-AAAA semifinal-clinching win over Northwest Whitfield in perspective. The Generals (26-4) lost a lead in the seventh inning for the second consecutive day, committed four errors and at times seemed rushed at the plate.
Still, with the prospect of having to play the upcoming postseason on the road, they scored two runs in the bottom half to tie the upstart Lady Bruins (16-16) and one in the eighth to win it.
Heritage will host Ridgeland today at 4 in a one-game championship.
"If I'm proud of anything tonight, it was that they didn't give up," Carter said. "They showed a lot of heart and they believed they were going to win. We made several mistakes we usually don't make, but the girls persevered."
Northwest, the fifth seed entering the tournament, trailed 4-3 entering the seventh and were down to their last strike when Olivia Elrod singled in the tying run. Jolene Gale followed with a two-run single for a 6-4 lead.
The Generals rallied quickly, with a single, a walk and a sacrifice putting the tying runners in scoring position. Raleigh Lewis fell behind Anna Grace Rann 0-2 before lacing a two-run single to center. Rann, though, later escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam to extend the game.
"I was just thinking about what I needed to do for my team and what was on the line," Lewis said of her big moment. "I had to be a leader right there. In the eighth we were sweating, but we really felt we were going to win it."
The Lady Bruins failed to score in the eighth under international tiebreak rules, but Heritage did so without an out. With speedster Olivia Tamewitz at second, Rann uncorked a wild pitch to send her to third. Intentional walks followed to load the bases, and Sydney Smith ended the game with a solid single to center.
Smith and Hannah Wills led Heritage's 14-hit attack with four hits each, with Lewis adding two and knocking in three runs. Ward and McCall Carlock had two hits each for Northwest, which will travel to Gilmer County for the third-place game.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow at Twitter @youngsports 22.