The Alcovy Tigers survived the opening day of the Georgia High School Association AAAAAA state softball tournament, splitting their first two contests with visiting North Cobb.
Alcovy fell in the tournament opener 3-2, but rallied back to blast the Warriors 11-3 in the second game.
The Tigers recorded just four hits in the opening contest, but tallied 10 base knocks in their win.
"Our timing was off in the first game," Alcovy head coach Russell Brock said. "Their pitcher, she's a good pitcher, but she uses a lot of off-speed (pitches), and it took us a minute to get our timing down. In the second game it showed that we did get our timing down and we hit the ball like we should."
Raven Smith and Kayla Johnson led the Tigers at the plate in the first contest, both going 1-for-2 at the dish with an RBI.
The Tigers plated the first two runs of the game, but North Cobb answered with a run in the fourth and two runs in the sixth to steal the road win.
Johnson took the loss in the circle, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk, while striking out six.
In the second game, Alcovy held a slim 2-1 advantage before a 3-run fifth inning propelled the Tigers to victory. Alcovy added six more runs on three hits in the sixth frame before giving up two runs in the bottom of the inning for the 11-3 final.
Johnson and Smith again came up big at the plate, with Johnson finishing 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs and Smith finishing 2-for-4.
Johnson earned the win, striking out six.
The Tigers series' deciding third game score was not available at press time Thursday night.
Eagles soar
The Eastside Eagles pulled off a series victory on the road Wednesday night, defeating Redan 10-2 and 12-3 in the opening round of the GHSA AAAA state softball tournament.
Eastside's Caitlin Ray combined for 11 innings of work in the two wins, giving up seven total hits between the two contests. Ray also struck out 15 combined batters to help the Eagles advance.
Molly Moon finished a combined 4-for-7 with two RBIs in the wins.
With the series win, the Eagles will take on No. 1 Heritage (Catoosa) on the road next week.
Second round games will begin on Oct. 23.
