Faring well in out-of-town tournaments often is a precursor to softball state tournament success. Three northwest Georgia teams want to think so, at least.
Heritage, Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe and Gordon Lee all won well-stocked tournaments over the weekend, further cementing their status as state-title contenders in their respective classifications.
Gordon Lee, top-ranked in Class A, improved to 16-0 with an impressive run through the Cherokee tournament. The Lady Trojans capped it with a 4-2 win over Class AAAA contender Northgate. Coach Dana Mull's team already owns nonregion wins over Heritage and LFO.
After four successive state-runner-up finishes to Eagle's Landing Christian Academy, is this the year Gordon Lee gets to celebrate after the final game?
"We don't talk about it much," second baseman Sam Taylor said. "But everyone on this team has the same goal - to bring home the trophy this year. We really believe this is the team to do it."
Tony Ellis's LFO team hasn't quite had the heartbreak of Gordon Lee, but the Lady Warriors have never won a fastpitch title despite being close several times. After winning the Shaw tournament in Columbus this past weekend, including a 4-0 defeat of Class AAAAA Lowndes County in the final, LFO is 15-1 (7-0 in Region 7-AA).
"We feel we have everything in place to make a good run in Class AA," said Ellis, who has two of the top pitchers in the state in any class in Monica Vickery and Maddie Bray. "Class AA is tough. [Top-ranked] Buford is tough and the team they beat in the finals last year, Rockmart, is in our region. It will be tough."
Heritage rallied from a 2-0 loss to Region 7-AAA's Allatoona last week to win the Tiger Town Classic, including a win over Rockmart in the final. The Generals (19-3) are ranked second to Oconee County in Class AAA. Led by senior pitcher Marissa Patterson, Heritage has posted 14 shutouts.
"Our pitching has been solid, and I guess if you're going to get that many shutouts, you better win," Heritage coach Steve Chattin said with a laugh. "We would have loved to have beaten Allatoona, but the kids, as they have done all year, responded well to the loss and played really well this weekend."
Other area teams ranked are Ridgeland (9-4, 5-1) in Class AAA and Calhoun (14-3, 6-1) and Dade County (10-6) in AA. Ridgeland, winner of four consecutive region games, travels to Heritage tonight in a battle of one-loss 7-AAA teams. Calhoun's only league loss was 3-2 in eight innings to LFO, while Dade's last game was a win over Class AAAA's No. 3-ranked team, Whitewater.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or (423)757-6296.