COVINGTON, Ga. — The Alcovy Lady Tigers competed in a new-look Super Regionals on Tuesday and Wednesday. In the four games they played, the Lady Tigers defeated the Riverwood Lady Raiders twice, but couldn’t overcome the Effingham County Lady Raiders in either contest.
Alcovy lost to Effingham County 5-4 and 11-3, respectively, to end the Lady Tigers’ 2022 season.
In the first matchup against the Lady Rebels, Alcovy had its opportunities to earn a victory. Particularly in the bottom frame of the final inning, the Lady Tigers’ top three hitters were due up trailing 5-3.
Ashlyn Hoy reached second base on an error and, two at-bats later, CeCe Williams singled on a ground ball to center field to score Hoy. But Williams would be left stranded at first after Makinzie Johnson and Alani Munoz popped out to end the game.
The Lady Tigers fell down from the beginning trailing 4-0 in the first inning and a half. However, thanks to a Munoz homer and a Hoy RBI, Alcovy cut the lead in half at the end of the second inning.
Both teams added a run in the fifth with Williams’ seventh inning RBI concluding the scoring in game one between the two schools.
Effingham County came out firing in game two against Alcovy, though, scoring two runs in the first followed by a four-run second inning. The Lady Tigers kept battling despite the deficit and added their three runs in the fourth inning to cut the lead 10-3.
But it was too late to mount a comeback. The Lady Rebels added another run and held Alcovy scoreless the rest of the game.
Alcovy made it to the second game against Effingham County, though, because of its 13-5, 8-5 wins against Riverwood.
Johnson led Alcovy at the plate in both games recording five RBIs while Kaitlyn Williams, Alexis Hernandez and Olivia Tomberlain each had two. CeCe, Munoz and Olivia Coliagnese contributed one RBI apiece, too.
But Alcovy couldn’t seem to get that offensive production to carry over against Effingham in the second game and, as a result, the Lady Tigers’ season came to an end.
Even so, they finished 26-8 overall, which is the best finish for the program since 2014. Alcovy’s 26 wins marks the most wins in a single season since it finished 27-4-1 in 2012. It also finished 14-0 in Region 3-AAAAAA and captured the region title for the first time since 2015.
On top of that, the Lady Tigers will return nearly 88% of its roster next year with only Tajah Jackson and Hernandez graduating from the team.
But, for now, Alcovy will enter the offseason and will look to bounce back in 2023.
This story will be later updated with quotes from coaches and players.
