COLUMBUS, Ga. — The Eastside Lady Eagles season came to an end in Columbus after two tight losses in the Elite Eight.

On day one, the Lady Eagles lost to the Northgate Lady Vikings 3-1. On day two, they lost to the Kell Lady Longhorns 4-3 to put an end to their 2023 campaign.

In game one against Northgate on Wednesday afternoon, Eastside’s bats never seemed to find a rhythm.

The Lady Eagles mustered two hits through seven innings in the contest. Eastside’s two hits came from Donee Morain and Eva Davis.

Eastside’s lone run came from Anslee Saunchegraw’s RBI groundout in the first inning.

The Lady Vikings got the scoring started in the first inning with an RBI single into left field. 

Northgate’s other two runs came on a wild pitch in the third inning and a RBI groundout in the sixth inning.

Even with the game being low scoring, Northgate cruised with the help of their pitcher, Jackie Burns.

Eastside struggled to get to Burns as the Lady Vikings’ pitcher induced many Eastside ground balls.

Burns pitched a complete game, striking out five Eastside batters and only allowing the two hits.

For the Lady Eagles, Dezaria “Z” Johnson started the game in the pitcher’s circle.

Johnson pitched 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on six hits. Davis came in to pitch in the sixth inning, and allowed no runs on two hits.

The 3-1 loss to Northgate set the Lady Eagles up with a matchup against Kell on Thursday night.

With the loser of game two being eliminated, the Lady Eagles and Lady Longhorns went down to the wire.

In the first inning, Eastside jumped to an early lead as an error on Johnon’s ground-rule double allowed Morain to score.

However, the lead only lasted to the following inning as Kell tied the game on an RBI groundout.

With the game tied, both teams traded scoreless innings until the Lady Eagles’ bats broke out in the fifth.

After two quick outs to start the inning for Kell, Lila Whitmire hit a line drive over the leftfield wall for a solo home run to give the Lady Eagles the lead.

Following the homer, two singles and a walk loaded the bases for Eastside.

With the bases loaded, Morain scored on a passed ball to give the Lady Eagles a 3-1 lead going into the sixth inning.

Down 3-1, the Lady Longhorns put together a scoring run to take the definitive advantage.

With two runners on, Kell attempted to steal second base, which allowed its runner on third base to score on the throw.

Now down 3-2, Kell’s Maggie Willmott hit the ball back up the middle for a go-ahead, two-run single to take a 4-3 lead over Eastside.

In the top of the seventh, the Lady Eagles went one-two-three to end the game.

The losses to Northgate and Kell ended Eastside’s season in the Elite Eight. The Lady Eagles finished the 2023 season with a 22-7 overall record and a Region 8-AAAAA championship.