RINGGOLD, Ga. -- A program with 10 GHSA softball championships since 2010 is, obviously, accustomed to playing meaningful games in October.
For the Gordon Lee Lady Trojans, regardless of what happens in the next handful of weeks, October will no doubt be interesting -- as if the first three weeks haven't already been so.
Gordon Lee, following the latest, and somewhat controversial, reclassification cycle by the GHSA, is competing in Region 6-AAA this season. It's a two-class jump into one of the state's most competitive regions and with it brings a new level of competition for veteran coach Dana Mull's team.
The Lady Trojans, Mull hopes, will use that step up in competition to raise their level of play. So far, after an eventful week, the transition is a work in progress, as evidenced by Tuesday night's 13-8 win over new-league rival Ringgold.
Gordon Lee (8-1, 2-1) built an early 8-0 lead over the Lady Tigers, but had to weather a six-run Ringgold second inning fueled by a pair or errors to win 13-8.
"I hope they took from this game that you can't take a lead for granted and you can't afford to let up," Mull said. "These teams in this region aren't going to quit."
Gordon Lee put up three runs in the first inning against Ringgold, a team that won back-to-back titles in Class AAA in 2019-20, on a two-run double from Gracie Helton and Abby Logan's sacrifice fly. The game appeared over when the Lady Trojans put up six more runs in the second on Chloee Fryar's two-run single, a two-run double by Logan and Tenslee Wilson's RBI single.
That changed in the bottom of the inning when leadoff hits by Riley Burdette and Hannah Scott were followed by a pair of two-out errors that led to six unearned runs off Gordon Lee ace Sydney Garrett, who entered the game with a 0.63 ERA. Maddy Bacon, Maddy Lee, Breanna Freeman and Katy Thompson all followed with RBI hits to cut the lead to two.
The Lady Trojans would go on to add single runs in the fourth and sixth innings and three more in the seventh to pull away for good. Logan pitched the final 5 ⅓ innings in relief, allowing two runs on eight hits.
The win was another example of the different nature of the season and it comes on the heels of a 8-4 loss to another new region foe, LaFayette, a game in which Mull said her team was far less than sharp.
"Our region overall will be tougher," Mull said. "On the same side of that we have the team to rise to the challenge to handle that. This is a good softball region and it will prepare the four teams that make the postseason. Some years our region was good and some years it wasn't, so we weren't as prepared some years for the postseason."
Mull is quick to point out that as many as five freshmen started for last season's 32-5 state runner-up team and that the increased competition will undoubtedly cause some more growing pains. She also has no doubt her team is up for the challenge.
Led by a pair of .429 hitters in Helton and Emma Phillips, Mull's lineup has six batters -- including Wilson, Dallas Wagoner, Fryar and Logan -- hitting over .333 and is loaded with speed. Power so far is lacking but the makeup of the team is something Mull is comfortable with.
"We are just as talented as the last several years," Mull said. "It's just a matter of figuring out the lineup and playing more consistently. There are no off days anymore with this region."
If early play is any indication, she's right. Only LaFayette, at 3-0, doesn't have a region loss and the Lady Ramblers had to hold on for a 1-0 win over the only winless team, Coahulla Creek (6-4 overall), Tuesday. Included in the group is Bremen, a region champion in Class AA last year, as well as holdovers Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe, Ridgeland and Adairsville.
"Just by looking at the scores, I really do think anybody can beat anybody," Mull said. "It will be a fun region for fans to watch. There's not that one team that is an easy win, but it will make us better if we make the playoffs."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.