The 2010 softball season will go down as one of the most successful in Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School history. It also will be remembered, though, as one of the most unfulfilled, coach Tony Ellis said after the Lady Warriors’ 11-7 loss to Greater Atlanta Christian in the final game Thursday of their Class AA second-round state playoff series.
The Lady Warriors built a 7-1 lead before their defense – and in some cases their poise – collapsed as the hot-hitting visitors rallied. The Spartans (23-14) advance to Columbus for the final eight while the Lady Warriors (32-3) get to wonder what if.
Two other Catoosa County teams had mixed results in the Class AAA playoffs, Ringgold winning 1-0 at LaGrange but Heritage falling 9-1 to Walnut Grove.
“You see 32-and-3 and you think it was a great season, and it was,” Ellis said, “but it was also very disappointing to have it end here. We just picked a bad day to have our defense fail us. Girls who made plays all year didn’t make them today. In this caliber of softball, you can’t do that. And every time we made a mistake, they capitalized on us.”
“We have a lot of seniors, but this is the first time many of them have been in a do-or-die game and they may have gotten tight. I wish I had the answer.”