LaFAYETTE, Ga. - Jason Carter caught the irony before he spoke.
The Heritage High School softball coach is thrilled his team improved to 6-1 Thursday with a comeback 4-3 win over LaFayette. Carter, however, is far from satisfied in how the Generals have gotten there. Take Thursday, for example.
Heritage trailed 2-1 after five innings and had appeared anxious at the plate in leaving five runners on base, including a rally-killing mistake in the fourth when a runner left second base early on a flyout to end the inning and another in the fifth when a runner was caught stealing with one out and another runner on third.
Still, single runs in the fifth and sixth tied the game and Morgan Parris' two-out, two-run homer in the seventh provided just enough cushion for the Region 6-AAAA win.
"We're 6-1 and haven't played our best softball," said Carter, whose team is 4-1 in the league and ranked third in the state in 4A. "It's one of those where you are actually having a good season but you can't enjoy it because you're not playing the way you think you should be playing. We are finding ways to win and we have kids coming through who have not played a lot, so that's good."
The coach, who led the Generals to a region title and deep playoff run last season, then took time to praise a team that lost five seasoned starters from 2015.
"We lost five from last year, so most of our starters are really on the field for the first time," he said. "Hopefully, that means we're going to struggle early and keep finding ways to win and then peak at the end of the season."
The game was scoreless going into the bottom of the fourth, when the ninth-ranked Ramblers (6-5, 2-4) broke through on an RBI double by senior Kaleigh Goff and Ashton Stalling's run-scoring single.
Heritage, after scoring one in the fifth despite the baserunning error, tied the game in the sixth when Ali Roberts scored on an infield error. In the seventh, after Shayla Ludy's leadoff single - her fourth of the game - Parris came through on the first pitch from Morgan Pettigrew with the homer to dead center field.
"I was not expecting that," said Parris, a first-year starting senior. "I had been popping it up and everything, but then, boom, there goes the ball over the fence. It felt good coming off the bat, amazing. We really needed a hit there because it was 2-2, so I told myself to step up and do something."
The Ramblers rallied in the seventh against Heritage pitcher Taelyn Bates. Ashton Stalling, after leading off with a single and advancing to third on a single by Hannah Blevins and a sacrifice bunt, scored on Megan Wilson's sacrifice fly. Bates, after a walk to Nicky Yancy, ended the threat and the game by getting Jada Allmon to ground out.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter at youngsports22.