Winning weekend for softball teams
Published 9:19 pm Monday, August 12, 2019
By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY
Daily News
They battled the scorching heat, some quality teams, and delivered a winning performance over the weekend.
The Callaway, LaGrange and Troup softball teams combined for an 8-2 record in the Callaway Classic that was played in blistering conditions on Friday and Saturday at Shuford Fields.
LaGrange played the most games among the local teams,
and it went 3-1.
Callaway went unbeaten in its three games, and Troup was 2-1.
Callaway beat North Springs 8-1 on Friday, and it edged Trinity Christian 4-2 on Saturday morning.
In its final game, Callaway rallied from a three-run deficit in the final inning to beat Brookstone 10-9, with Mya Lawton coming through with the game-winning hit.
LaGrange won its first three games before falling to a strong Northgate team 2-0 on Saturday afternoon.
LaGrange beat Shaw 13-5, Brookstone 6-0, and Landmark Christian 18-0.
Troup lost to Northgate 9-3 on Friday before bouncing back to beat Flint River 10-1 and Shaw 10-4 on Saturday.
Here’s a look at how each of the teams fared:
CALLAWAY
After giving up three runs in the top of the sixth inning, Callaway came surging back in the bottom of the inning to score four runs and beat Brookstone 10-9.
With Chaple Butler on third and no outs, Mya Lawton drove the ball over the left fielder’s head for the game-winning hit.
Head coach Robyn McCann’s message to Lawson was “it’s no outs, and there’s no pressure, just hit. Hit me a fly ball. And she did great.”
The dramatic win gave Callaway a 3-0 record in the Callaway Classic. With Monday’s home win over Shaw, Callaway improved to 6-2 overall and has won five in a row.
“I’m excited. I believe great things are coming,” McCann said. “The more we work, the better we’ll be. They’re working together. It’s clicking.”
Callaway did a lot of its damage late against Brookstone, scoring four runs in each of the final two innings.
The Lady Cavaliers banged out 10 hits.
Faith Horton had one of the game’s biggest hits, a three-run triple that capped a four-run fifth inning. Butler, hitting in the leadoff spot, had three hits and an RBI with three runs scored.
McKenzie Rhodes had had a two-run double in the sixth inning, and she finished with two hits.
Lindsay Cofield had two hits, Kourtney Grier had an RBI single, Alexus Furgerson had a hit and a walk, and Aaliyah Morman scored a run and had a sacrifice bunt.
Horton and Furgerson both pitched for Callaway.
Earlier on Saturday, Callaway eased past Trinity Christian 4-2.
Callaway scored three runs in the third inning and one in the fourth, and Lawton was the winning pitcher.
Rhodes singled and Alora Vetsavong doubled leading off the inning, and they both scored on Grier’s double.
Grier finished the game with two hits, and Lawton had a double.
In Friday’s game, Callaway thumped North Springs 8-1.
Callaway started quickly with five runs in the first inning, and it never looked back.
Faith Horton had a single and two RBIs, Rhodes had a base hit with two runs scored, Butler reached base with three walks and scored three runs, leadoff hitter Leijorey Sanders walked twice, Grier had a walk and an RBI, Furgerson drove in a run, and Cofield had a hit.
Horton was the starting and winning pitcher.
LAGRANGE
After winning its first three games in the Callaway Classic, LaGrange dropped a hard-fought 2-0 decision to Northgate on Saturday afternoon.
LaGrange’s Camden Smith delivered a splendid pitching performance in the loss.
Smith threw the six-inning complete game, holding Northgate to two runs on five hits.
Northgate scored the game’s only runs in the fourth inning.
Malone Aldridge had LaGrange’s lone hit against a pair of Northgate pitchers.
“We’ve been talking to our girls. Their pitcher was one of the better pitchers we’re going to see,” LaGrange head coach Gabby Heath said. “Even the second pitcher was a good pitcher. A lot of the teams we’re playing now will prepare us for the postseason. They understand the process.”
Smith helped hold down a Northgate offense that had been scoring runs at will.
“That team had scored an average of 13 runs against everyone else, and they scored two against us,” Heath said. “That’s encouraging to them.”
Earlier on Saturday, LaGrange exploded for 12 second-inning runs on the way to an 18-0 victory.
Leadoff hitter Madison Dennis had a monster day for LaGrange with two home runs and five RBIs, and she finished with three hits.
Jacee Marable had a hit and three RBIs, Kirsten Williams had two hits and two RBIs, Holly Lynn and Mariana Ceja each had a hit and two RBIs, Aldridge, Abby Vanhoose, Macee Stone and Kaylee Bryant each had a hit and an RBI, and Kate Asbell had a hit.
Stone pitched four innings to get the win, and she held Landmark to two hits.
On Friday, LaGrange blanked Brookstone 6-0 with Smith getting it done on the mound.
Smith threw a five-inning complete game, and she gave up just one hit while striking out 13.
Dennis was again an offensive star with two triples and two RBIs, and Aldridge had two hits and two RBIs.
Marable, Lynn and Ceja each had a hit, and Williams had an RBI.
In the 13-5 win over Shaw, it was Vanhoose doing a lot of the damage with four hits and six RBIs. Aldridge had a hit and two RBIs, Marable had a hit and an RBI, Dennis had an RBI, and Ceja and Williams each had a hit.
Stone pitched a four-inning complete game.
TROUP
Troup pushed three runs across in the top of the third inning to take the lead, but Northgate scored the final seven runs to win 9-3.
Troup returned to Shuford Fields on Saturday and beat Flint River 10-1 and Shaw 10-4.
The games gave head coach Kayla Yeargin an opportunity to use a lot of players, and move them around the field.
“It’s great, because I can move lots of girls to different positions, and everybody’s got to fight, because they know that someone has the potential to take that spot,” Yeargin said. “They make each other better every day.”
In the Northgate game, Jennifer Albertson had a hit and two RBIs, and Avery Pearson, Lainey Braswell, Hadleigh Livingston, Skye Loftin and Caroline McInvale each had a hit.
Pearson pitched the five-inning complete game, and only four of the run runs she allowed were earned.
“Northgate’s a great team, and it was a couple of small mistakes there,” Yeargin said. “That’s the reason they came out on top in that one. I’m very excited to play the rest of our games, with what our kids are showing.”
Against Flint River, Troup busted it open with four runs in the fourth inning and five more in the fifth.
Olivia McInvale had a double and two RBIs for Troup, and Maggie McDonald had two hits and two RBIs.
Pearson had two hits and an RBI, Braswell had a hit and two RBIs, and Loftin and Haley Cotton each had a hit.
McDonald pitched five innings and held Flint River to two hits.
In Troup’s final game, it was trailing Shaw 3-1 when it tied it with two runs in the fifth inning.
Troup broke the game open with seven runs in the sixth inning.
Braswell had three hits with a triple while driving in a run, and McDonald had a hit and three RBIs.
Caroline McInvale had a hit and an RBI, Cotton and Livingston each drove in a run, and Morgan Watkins had a hit.
Pearson threw the seven-inning complete game.
THIS WEEK’S GAMES
CALLAWAY
TUESDAY
Hardaway at Callaway, 5 p.m.
THURSDAY
Bowdon at Callaway, 4:30 p.m.
LAGRANGE
TUESDAY
Cedartown at LaGrange, 5:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Harris County at LaGrange, 4:30 p.m.
GADC tournament at East Coweta
FRIDAY
LaGrange vs. East Coweta, 5 p.m.
LaGrange vs. Cairo, 8:30 p.m.
SATURDAY
LaGrange vs. Decatur, 10 a.m.
LaGrange vs. Tatnall Square Academy, noon
TROUP
TUESDAY
Troup at Sandy Creek, 5:30 p.m.
SATURDAY
Cartersville at Troup (doubleheader), noon