Gordon Lee, Ridgeland GHSA softball winners; Calhoun upset in AAA

COLUMBUS, Ga. - It's not the way Dana Mull would have scripted it, but Thursday's scare in the opening round of the GHSA Softball Championships may be just what her Gordon Lee Lady Trojans needed.

Other area teams weren't quite so fortunate to escape upset, including Class AAA prohibitive favorite Calhoun.

Gordon Lee (30-1) had just one hit in a 1-0 eight-inning win over Wilcox County in the Class A public school first round at the Columbus Softball Complex, but it came on the game's final play and it went all of 100 feet.

Canaan Burnett's bunt single scored Paxton Grimes all the way from second base to end the thriller. Burnett was attempting to sacrifice off Wilcox starter Laure Lee Keene after Grimes started the inning at second under international tiebreaker rules, but her bunt made it past the pitcher and Grimes was able to score the winning run.

"The shortstop was covering third and she had to go back to get the ball, so I sent Paxton," Mull recalled. "The girl made a really nice play, but Paxton was able to get in. It was exciting. We need to bring the bats tomorrow, though. We hadn't seen live pitching except for five innings last week, and we hadn't seen a good one in a while."

Burnett also earned the pitching win with eight innings of two-hit, six-strikeout work. The Lady Trojans will face Telfair County this morning at 9 in the winners-bracket semifinals.

Trion's late rally fell short against Glascock County in a 10-9 loss. The Lady Bulldogs will face Bowdon at 3 today.

- Class AAAAAA: Dalton lost to Heritage-Conyers, 6-4 in eight innings, after holding an early 3-0 lead. The Lady Catamounts, who play region foe River Ridge today at 1 in the losers bracket, committed five errors in the loss.

- Class AAAA: Ridgeland pulled what many would consider an upset in a 3-1 win over Marist as junior leadoff hitter Haley Sandridge went 4-for-4 and Grayson James and Haley Walker had RBI hits to back the seven-hit pitching of senior Morgan Crawford.

"We played a good game and made the plays when we had to," Ridgeland coach Richie Wood said. "Their pitcher is really good, but Sandridge stepped up big for us and we had some timely hitting up and down the lineup."

The Lady Panthers (24-7) will face Northside-Columbus in this morning's winners-bracket semifinal at 11.

- Class AAA: In possibly the biggest shocker of the day, top-ranked Calhoun was upset by Cook County late Thursday, 13-6, and will have to work through the losers bracket to capture the program's fourth consecutive state title. Calhoun (35-2) will face Worth County today at 3 p.m.

- Class AA: Dade County fell 6-0 to Harlem, one of the class's favorites, and will face Vidalia today at 1 in the losers bracket.

- Class A private: Christian Heritage earned a semifinal spot with a 3-0 win over Athens Christian as Erin Leonard fired a shutout. The Lady Lions (13-7) will face First Presbyterian today at 11 a.m.

Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22

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