COLUMBUS, Ga. - It was the last place any softball team wants to find itself at the GHSA Championships - the losers-bracket first round.
Softball's version of purgatory didn't deter Ringgold. The Lady Tigers, ranked as high as No. 1 this season in Class AAA, lost to Central-Carroll on Thursday, meaning any title hopes would require six wins in two days.
Consider that mountain half climbed after Ringgold won 8-4 over both Sonoraville and Blessed Trinity and avenged the loss against Central-Carroll, 5-1.
"Our goal was to win make it past today," said Ringgold coach Shane Pendley, whose team will play Morgan County this morning with hopes of battling rival Calhoun in the title round. "We still haven't played our best ball, but we got closer in that last game."
So did Gordon Lee. The Lady Trojans, top-ranked in Class AA, lost their second game Thursday and will have to win five games to earn their first double-A title.
Gordon Lee (33-2) first, though, had to defeat the team that won last year's championship, Heard County, a surprise first-round loser Thursday. Riding Emily Armour's two-hit, 12-strikeout pitching, the Lady Trojans did just that, 5-0. They then rallied from a 1-0 sixth-inning deficit to score two runs in the bottom half and 12 more in the seventh for a 14-1 win over Social Circle.
Gordon Lee will face the team it lost to on Thursday, Bryan County, this morning and with a win would battle Vidalia in the title round.
"We've done it before," Lady Trojans coach Dana Mull said of the challenge of coming through the losers bracket. "A lot of things have to bounce your way to win three games on Saturday, but we could very easily do it. We're going for it."
After being shut down on one hit by Bryan on Thursday night, Gordon Lee could not score Friday until the sixth inning of the Heard game and used an error, a walk and four singles to plate five runs. That was nothing compared to the 12-run seventh against Social Circle, a welcome site to Mull.
"I really did think we would eventually explode," she said. "We've seen two very quick pitchers and then seeing the slower stuff threw us off quite a bit. When it started getting late we started pressing, but they finally relaxed and did their thing."
The journey ended for three area teams Friday. Dalton's best season in school history ended with a 7-1 loss to Jones County in Class AAAAA. Three errors led to two Jones runs in the first inning, and the Lady Catamounts (24-13) never recovered.
"The girls were nervous a little bit, and you can't blame them," Dalton coach Stacy Parker said. "To finish in the top five in the state is pretty good. They can learn a lot from this tournament. We have nine starters back, and now they know what to expect here."
Sonoraville may have been the most heartbroken 0-2 team in Columbus. The Lady Phoenix (20-16) lost in 10 innings Thursday before falling to Region 6 rival Ringgold 8-4 Friday on Kaylee Womack's walk-off grand slam.
Christian Heritage (27-6) also completed its best season after losing 7-1 to Stratford Academy in Class A private school play.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22.