Lauren Lawson (13) of Heritage bats against Northwest Whitfield Thursday at Heritage High School.TUNNEL HILL, Ga. – Rivals often bring out the best in each other. For the Northwest Whitfield and Heritage High School softball teams, though, it might just the opposite.
For the second time in under three weeks the two Region 7B-AAAA rivals, who happen to be the top two-ranked teams in the state, one-upped each other in the mistake department. And for the second time the Generals came out on top, winning 6-3 Thursday despite not having an earned run and despite committing four errors themselves.
“We came out awful tight and gave them some runs early,” said Heritage coach Steve Chattin, whose team locked up the top seed for the region tournament. “I’m not sure that either team in the two times we’ve played has played like the No. 1- or No. 2-ranked team in the state. But we kept swinging the bat and kept battling.”
The sloppy start, which began with Colbie Thomas’ leadoff homer in the bottom of the first inning and concluded with two errors and two more runs, caused Chattin to go old-style on his young team. The subsequent chewing out, paired with junior Lauren Lawson’s solid pitching, kept Heritage (22-5, 9-1) in the game.
“I was a little concerned before the game and thought we were a little uptight, so I tried to get that out of them and it didn’t work,” Chattin said. “I’ve probably yelled, pushed and prodded this team less than any team I’ve had here because of their maturity and the fact that very few times they’ve let me down, but after that first inning I felt we needed an adjustment.”