COVINGTON, Ga. — All doubt was removed early on Tuesday whether or not the Eastside Lady Eagles would win their first round doubleheader of the Class 5A Playoffs. 

They swept Lithia Springs winning game 1, 15-0 and won again in game 2, 20-1. 

Head coach Heather Wood was pleased with her team’s performances. 

“We’re thankful that we got to host the first round,” Wood said. “It’s important for us to end on a high note at home. But now, we’re focused on resetting and moving on to the second round.” 

Jumping out to huge advantages early was the recipe to coming away with the first-round sweep. 

Particularly in game 1, the Lady Eagles scored 11 runs in the first inning. They followed that up by putting together a 13-run first inning in game 2. 

Eastside did it in different ways in each game. 

During the first game, the Lady Eagles strung together hits to bring runs across home plate. In game 2, however, Eastside was patient at the plate drawing 10 straight walks or HBP to open the contest. 

As a team, the Lady Eagles had a .611 batting average, recorded 17 RBIs, drew 15 walks and never once did they strike out on Tuesday. 

Seeing this was much to the delight of head coach Heather Wood after being drenched in a Gatorade bath. 

“They did come out and play well,” Wood said. “This really puts us in a good position to go to the second round trying to make the Sweet Sixteen.” 

There was a constant throughout both games, though. The Lady Eagles were aggressive in their base running, recording a lot of stolen bases which brought runs at a faster rate. 

Pitching was in supreme fashion, too. 

Dezariah Johnson and Vyctoria Freeman were sent to the pitcher’s circle in games 1 and 2, respectively. 

The two pitchers combined to pitch six innings allowing only three hits, one earned run, struck out 13 batters and surrendered four walks. 

All in all, it was a complete, dominant performance for the Lady Eagle over Lithia Springs. Now, they’ll advance to the second round of the playoffs to face Northside (Columbus). That matchup will be Tuesday, Oct. 19 on the road with game 1 at 5 p.m.

For Wood, the Lady Eagles’ attention now shifts to their next-round opponent. 

“We’re just trying to drill into them to reset and focus on Northside,” Wood said. “That’s where our focus will be the rest of this week in practice. Whatever we can do to put up a good performance and be competitive will put us in a good spot.”