ROSSVILLE, Ga. - Ridgeland High School softball coach Richie Wood scheduled practice for this afternoon.
It's a pleasure, not a punishment. The Lady Panthers certainly don't need the extra work, just a little more fun.
Ridgeland dispatched St. Pius X from the opening round of the Class AAAA playoffs by sweeping a doubleheader 15-0 in three innings and 15-0 in four innings on Wednesday night. With no third game necessary today, the Lady Panthers (20-12) will still get time on the field.
St. Pius X, an Atlanta private school, finished the season 12-14.
"We're blessed to have another practice, because that means we're in the next round," catcher Courtney Mooneyham said. "I wouldn't want to be doing anything else."
The quick games allowed the Lady Panthers to enjoy an early evening. Cleanup hitter Haley Johnson had her plans set: shower, food, homework.
"I have hours of extra time to do my homework," said Johnson, who had two RBIs in the second game. "After the game at Gilmer, I got home about 12:45. I didn't get any homework done that night."
The Lady Panthers were plenty busy at home plate Wednesday. But Mooneyham had a pretty boring night behind the plate, with Morgan Crawford allowing one hit in the first game and Allison Wallin giving up three hits in the second.
Mooneyham's biggest excitement of the night came after the final out as Wallin jumped into her arms for a hug.
"We only hug after big games," Mooneyham said. "But almost every game is a big game."
Advancing to next week's second round of state certainly qualifies. Ridgeland (20-12) will host Perry or travel to Wayne County for a best-of-three series starting Wednesday. Next week's series winners will make up the final eight teams in the bracket and move on to the double-elimination state tournament in Columbus.
"Our mission is the elite eight, and we're not satisfied until we're in the finals," Wood said. "The teams we're facing now are good, and we have to execute every play. You have to hammer, hammer, hammer and get the nail in the coffin as soon as possible."
The Lady Panthers accomplished that goal in the first game. Every player in the starting lineup scored at least once. Haley Sandridge and Haley Johnson scored three runs, with Jones scoring twice and courtesy runner Amaya Harrington scoring twice for Crawford.
Ridgeland sent every batter to the plate in the second and third innings, during which it scored a total of 13 runs. Aminah Ward added the 14th and 15th runs in the top of the fourth with a home run down the left-field line.
That left Wallin to get the final three outs.
"We just spoke to our team to use Ridgeland as a model for what we aspire to become," St. Pius X coach Gary Leiner said. "The effort and energy they play with, any coach would would want their team to play like Ridgeland.
"It was a night of complete domination."
And today will be followed by Ridgeland softball practice.
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6484. Follow him at Twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP