CHATSWORTH, Ga. – The softball playoff field from Region 7-AAA was officially trimmed to four teams Tuesday at Veterans Memorial Park – two that were expected to make it and two that weren’t.
Second-seeded Heritage earned at least a runner-up spot and home playoff series with a 3-2 win over Allatoona in the winners-bracket final, handing the Buccaneers their first loss to a region team. Ringgold, the fifth seed coming in, swept two games in the losers bracket, eliminating Southeast Whitfield, 8-3, before downing even more surprising Gilmer County, 5-0.
Ringgold (16-12) will play Allatoona (20-5) in the losers-bracket final Thursday at 5, with the winner playing Heritage (26-4) in the championship round at 7. Seventh-seeded Gilmer (14-16), which eliminated fourth-seeded LaFayette on Tuesday, 7-0, will represent 7-AAA as its fourth seed in the first round of the state playoffs next week.
Heritage, which lost 2-0 to Allatoona in the regular season, trailed 2-0 after three innings Tuesday before getting three runs in the fourth. A single and an error put runners on third and second bases leading off the inning, and Allison Vaughn drove in both with a single up the middle. One out later, No. 9 batter Amber Burton singled in the go-ahead run.
Senior pitcher Marissa Patterson made the lead stand up, retiring the final six batters.
“I thought we battled all night,” Heritage coach Steve Chattin said. “We made a couple of mistakes and left some runners on, but they battled. The biggest thing about this win is that it guarantees us we play at home next week and that someone has to beat us twice Thursday.”
Ericka Bynum paced Ringgold in its 13-run outburst Tuesday. The sophomore was 3-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored against Southeast and had two hits, including a homer, and drove in four against Gilmer. Her two-run blast to left-center broke a scoreless tie in the fourth against Gilmer – more than enough runs for pitcher Brittany Portwood, who held the hot-hitting Bobcats to two hits.
“We’ve been ripping the ball lately,” Ringgold coach Rachel Hodge said. “Sometimes, after winning the game that gets you to the state, it’s hard to play that second game. But the girls were ready and weren’t going to settle for fourth place. We’re still really young and it’s taken a while to get together as a team.”
Junior pitcher Kensey Sholl pitched a three-hitter against Southeast, with Ericka Burkhart adding two hits and Allie Baker driving in three runs with a double in a five-run second inning.