COLUMBUS, Ga. — The Elite Eight in Columbus was delayed a day due to the weather, but the Eastside Lady Eagles showed zero signs of rust or adversity when they took on Union Grove.
The Lady Eagles cruised into Columbus with back-to-back sweeps over Warner Robins and Cedartown.
This set up Eastside to begin its Columbus run against Union Grove, who won a three-game set over No. 1 seeded Marist in the Sweet 16.
Lady Eagles bats’ strike early to take down Lady Wolverines
The Lady Eagles’ bats did damage early, the head coach Heather Wood used the sizable lead to get many new players in the game before Eastside won 11-3.
Senior Kylee Lawrence started the game for Eastside and the Memphis-commit pitched gave up her lone run of the day after a strong start from Union Grove.
A leadoff single from Lauren Jordan and a walk from Aniyah Griffin led to an RBI double off the bat of Riley Mote that made it a 1-0 lead for the Lady Wolverines.
However, the lead was short lived as Eastside went on to lap Union Grove numerous times before the Lady Wolvers managed to get one out.
Following a leadoff walk from Donee Morain and a single from Ansley Hartman, Allie Vaughn took two pitches before she sent the third over the left field wall for a three-run homer.
Eva Davis doubled to follow, but Union Grove managed to get two outs to almost close out the rally.
With the rally in jeopardy, Savanna Griffin and Avery Jewell delivered with back-to-back jacks that extended the lead to 6-1.
After a day that was filled with adversity with the delays and the weather, Wood was happy to see her team come out strong after the wait.
“That’s something we have told the girls all season long, to come out early,” Wood said. “You have to come out early in Columbus and I thought they did a great job. I know we have had downtime having to adjust the weather, but we have been able to get in a lot of reps hitting-wise. We are able to still keep it moving and get practice in before today. I am extremely pleased with how we came out today.”
The Lady Wolverines had a chance to close out the frame, but a costly error allowed Kamryn Davis to reach base, which led to a RBI double from Morain.
With a six-point lead, Lawrence went on to pitch a scoreless frame.
Three Lady Eagles reached base to begin the bottom of the second, and that allowed for Lawrence to help herself on an RBI single that scored Vaughn.
A sacrifice fly from Griffin and an RBI knock from Jewell put Eastside’s final runs of the game on the board as the score stood at 11-1.
The third and fourth innings saw freshman Jayah Johnson take the mound for the Lady Eagles and pick up right where Lawrence left off.
Johnson delivered with two scoreless frames in which she allowed zero hits.
In the top of the fifth, Wood turned the ball over to Lauren Brown, who battled with some control early on.
The Lady Wolverines drew three consecutive walks to start the inning, and a hit-by-pitch scored Union Grove’s second run.
With four straight Lady Wolverines batters on base, Eastside called for a mound visit.
“Sometimes it can be overwhelming in Columbus, we try to use this game while we have the lead to give girls experience and sometimes it just takes a little while to settle,” Wood said. “I thought she did a great job of that. It is just part of being in the playoffs and part of being in Columbus. The atmosphere is a lot different here, so I think this was a great game to give girls who have not been here before that experience.”
Right after the visit, Brown induced a pair of ground balls that allowed the Eastside infield to throw out the runner at home.
After a bases-loaded walk scored one more run, Brown struck out Shyan Adams to close out Eastside’s game one win.
Vaughn and Jewell led the way with two hits apiece, and the two also tallied three RBIs each along with Griffin.
The win advanced Eastside to the next round, where it was pitted against No. 1 seed Harris County — a rematch of the Class AAAA title game from a year ago.
Harris County broke away late in its first round game to down Wayne County 7-2.
Lawrence delivers performance of the day to take down Harris County
When it came down to the rematch of the Class AAAA title game, only one thing mattered — Lawrence.
Lawrence pitched a complete game and only allowed one run on three hits as her nine strikeouts proved to be crucial.
According to Lawrence, the game plan was simple.
“Just trusting each other and throwing it on their hands,” Lawrence said. “Attack them early, command the zone as a pitcher and a catcher. Let them know and establish early that it's ours and we demand and we pitch and we hit spots.”
That same sentiment was shared by the team’s catcher, Cadence McCullough, who has caught mostly every inning for Eastside.
“We really came in here with the intention to show that we want it more,” McCullough said. “I feel we proved it with the game today.”
The first batter for Harris County walked, which led to the game’s first run on an RBI double from Riley Huckaby that reached the right-center wall.
With the Lady Tigers threatening, Lawrence earned the final two outs to prevent further damage, an action that became a familiar sight throughout the game.
An error from the Harris County shortstop allowed Morain to reach base to leadoff the inning. A few batters later, Vaughn came through again.
After a strong performance against Union Grove, Vaughn did damage to Harris County on a RBI double to tie the game.
In the top of the second, Kamryn came through with yet another great defensive play.
With a runner on, a ground ball to Morain was fielded and thrown to first for the out. With Morain off third base, the Harris County defender attempted to advance.
However, Davis saw it all happen and she sprinted in from left field to be on the receiving end of the throw to tag the runner out.
With all the momentum, the Lady Eagles added on in the third.
Morain and Hartman each singled to get on base, then Eva sent a two-run double into left field to make it a 3-1 lead.
Eastside manufactured an insurance run in the fourth on a RBI groundout from Jewell, but the performance by Lawrence in the later innings sealed the deal.
In the top of the sixth, a pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases with only one out.
With the Lady Tigers on the verge of a rally, Lawrence responded with back-to-back strikeouts to end the frame and prevent any runs.
“She[Lawrence] is a gamer and a competitor,” Wood said. “I have said it all season long and she has been such a big asset for us since coming to Eastside. I put trust in her and Eva for being ready for these moments. It’s all about winning the big moments down here.”
When it came time for the top of the seventh, Lawrence did it all herself.
The first out came on a groundball that Lawrence fielded before she tossed it to Hartman.
Harris County’s next two batters went down by strikeout as the Lady Eagles earned a big win to end day one in Columbus.
At the plate, Hartman came away with a pair hits while Eva’s two RBIs led the way.
The combination of quality hitting and clutch pitching helped the Lady Eagles in both matchups on Thursday, and McCullough expressed how those qualities can help the team finish the job.
“It’s refreshing to say that I have teammates that can perform defensively but also offensively,” McCullough said. “Yes, defense helps prevent runs but hitting is also what makes you win. I think we are just all around pretty good. Harris is good competition, but I have to say we are better.”
With the win, Lady Eagles will get almost a full day to rest before they take on Kell in the Final Four at 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31.
The 2-0 start is exactly what Wood had hoped for when the team took the trip down to Columbus, and Eastside will look to carry that momentum into Friday’s game.
“It’s huge. I always say this every time we are here, ‘The key to getting into the championship game is winning that second game,’” Wood said. “Obviusly last year we didn’t and we had to play a lot more games and our pitchers threw a lot more innings compared to Harris. [It] was a huge win and we know we have a big matchup tomorrow with Kell and that is not going to be an easy task either. But, I am very pleased with how these girls came out today.”
