By kevin eckleberry

Daily News

range High’s softball team.

LaGrange stumbled against Heard County on Saturday, but it won its other four games in the Callaway Classic to improve to 6-1 on the young season.

LaGrange was able to play five games in two days as it prepares for Tuesday’s Region 5-AAAA opener at Cedartown.

“Specifically for us, it’s great because it’s local,” LaGrange head coach Gabby Heath said. “We get to stay here, and have some good competition early as we’re gearing up for region.”

LaGrange brought a 5-0 record into a showdown with a strong Heard County team on Saturday morning.

The game got away from LaGrange from the start, and Heard County rolled to the 12-0 win.

After a short break, LaGrange was back on field for its final tournament game against Shaw.

LaGrange broke it open with seven runs in the third inning, and it added six more runs in the fourth on the way to a 15-0 win.

“That was our deal. This happened. How are we going to respond?,” Heath said. “What are we going to do the next opportunity that we get? So it was great for them to come out here and have a different mindset, and finish the tournament off on a positive note.”

In the Shaw game, LaGrange banged out 13 hits, and Hannah Karcher pitched a one-hit shutout in a game limited to four innings because of the run rule.

Abby Vanhoose, Malone Aldridge and Holly Lynn each had two hits and two RBIs, and Destiny Fitzpatrick and Karcher each had two hits with one RBI.

Shamiracle Mahone had a hit with an RBI, Jacee Marable and Kadaysha Griffin each had one hit, and Madison Dennis walked and scored a run.

In Saturday’s first game, LaGrange scored four runs in the first inning on the way to a 7-3 victory over Brookstone.

Freshman Macee Stone got the start, and she threw the seven-inning complete game, and limiting Brookstone to seven hits and three runs.

Offensively, Malone Aldridge, Destiny Fitzpatrick and Hannah Karcher each had three hits, and Fitzpatrick drove in three runs.

Stone helped herself with a hit and three RBIs, Jacee Marable had a hit and an RBI, and Katelynn Mobley and Abby Vanhoose each had one hit.

In the Heard County game, LaGrange found itself down 3-0 after the top of the first inning, and it was never able to recover.

LaGrange had five errors, and Heard had eight unearned runs.

LaGrange played two games on Friday, and it won them both.

In Friday’s first game, LaGrange thumped Hardaway 9-1.

Macee Stone got the starting pitching assignment, and she threw a five-inning complete game, limiting Hardaway to two hits and one run.

Katelynn Mobley and Kadaysha Griffin each had two hits and one RBI, and Destiny Fitzpatrick and Abby Vanhoose had two hits apiece.

Jacee Marable had a hit and two RBIs, Stone had a hit with one RBI, Malone Aldridge had a hit, and Madison Dennis drove in a run.

Later on Friday, LaGrange handled Upson-Lee. The game was noteworthy because sophomore Camden Smith, who was the staff ace a year ago, made her season debut after recovering from an injury.

The game was shortened to four innings because of the time limitation, and Smith went the whole way.

Destiny Fitzpatrick led the offensive effort with three hits and two RBIs, and Hannah Karchar had two hits and two RBIS.

Madison Dennis collected two hits, Jacee Marable, Zykeria Brewer and Abby Vanhoose each had a hit and an RBI, and Macee Stone and Malone Aldridge each had a hit.