State time for Lady Warriors

Published 12:45 am Saturday, October 20, 2018

By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

LaGrange Academy is hoping to turn the tables on Flint River Academy.

During the regular season, those two softball rivals played twice, and Flint River won a pair of close games.

They’ll meet again today, and the stakes will be considerably higher.

There are four teams in the Class A GISA state playoffs, and on one side of the bracket it will be LaGrange Academy and Flint River meeting in a best-of-three series.

Thomas Jefferson will host Twiggs Academy in the other semifinal, and the winning teams will play for the GISA state championship.

Flint River will host LaGrange Academy, and they’ll play a doubleheader today beginning at 1 p.m., and if needed, a third and deciding game would be on Monday.

In the first meeting between the two teams, LaGrange Academy had an 8-0 lead before losing 14-11.

Flint River was down 11-7 when it scored seven runs in the bottom of the seventh to win it on a walk-off home run by Grace Foster.

LaGrange Academy had 13 hits in that game, including a home run by Ashlee Mains.

Amber Corley led LaGrange Academy with four hits, and Laney Lackey, Mains and Felicity Liechty had two hits apiece.

Corley, Lackey and Liechty each had a double.

In the rematch, which was played at LaGrange Academy, Flint River won 8-6.

Flint River took the lead with five runs in the top of the first inning and it was leading 7-0 when LaGrange Academy scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Trailing by four, LaGrange Academy scored twice in the bottom of the seventh, but the comeback bid came up just short.

Corley had a hit and three RBIs for LaGrange Academy, Lackey and McKenzie Jones each had hits, and Sydney Anderson drove in two runs.

Corley pitched a complete game.LaGrange Academy is trying to win its seventh state championship under head coach Charles Parker.

LaGrange Academy won state titles in 1998, 2000, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011, and it finished second in 2002, 2005 and 2010.