TUNNEL HILL, Ga. — There are certain high school athletic programs that have earned the right to be expected to be championship contenders — no matter the situation.
The Heritage softball program is one of those, and despite the graduation of one of the most successful classes in Georgia softball history, the Generals are where they are expected to be at basically the halfway point of the 2022 season.
Fair or not, Tuesday's 3-0 win at Northwest Whitfield in eight innings -- with a lineup featuring two freshmen, three sophomores, two juniors and two seniors -- was further evidence that the new-look Generals (10-4 overall and 5-1 in Region 7-AAAA) aren't stepping back without a fight.
Freshman Bailee Hollis led off the eighth with a single and later scored on a wild pitch. Fellow sophomore Jenna Ryans later added a two-run double to make a winner of yet another super soph in pitcher Addie Edwards.
Edwards, the latest in a long line of Heritage aces, went the distance, allowing five hits, walking no one and striking out 14. She allowed only two baserunners to reach second base, an effort that earned coach Megan Crawford's high praise.
"Addie is a gamer. That's one word to describe her and it really fits," Crawford said. "She's just a sophomore, but you wouldn't even know it. She's able to throw whatever you ask her to and tonight everything was working, especially her curveball. Our catcher, Abby Young, really did a good job of framing pitches, too."
Northwest (8-7, 3-2) pitcher Jolie Anderson matched Edwards for seven innings before running into trouble. She finished allowing seven hits and three runs while striking out two.
The win keeps Heritage tied with Central-Carroll with one league loss. Those two have split a pair of region games with one to play. Heritage will play two more against Northwest in what promises to be a challenging second half to the regular season.
"It's huge in a very tough region," Crawford said of Tuesday's win. "It gives us a lot of momentum going into the rest of the season. This is a different team, but our goals are still the same. We are competing for a region title, we want to be in Columbus for the Elite Eight and expect to compete for a state title."
One of the team's seniors, Lexi Duckett, had three of Heritage's seven hits, with freshman Hollis adding two.
Heritage captured three of the last four Class AAAA state titles, with last year's seniors -- a group that included all-stars Riley KoKinda, Madeline Stone and Zoe Wright -- helping produce a 110-23 record in four seasons. This year's team, with at times seven players in different positions, has won five consecutive games.
"It's a credit to our middle school and summer program that these girls are ready to kind of just jump right in," Crawford said. "They don't carry themselves that way on the field, though. They are fun to be around and they are just good athletes who want to continue our tradition of winning."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com; follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.