WALNUT GROVE, Ga. — The Eastside Lady Eagles broke away late to stay perfect in 2025 as they took down Walnut Grove 14-6 on the road on Thursday.
The game was 6-6 in the bottom of the fifth after a big rally from the Lady Warriors, but Eastside responded with an even bigger rally to earn the win.
Senior Kylee Lawrence started the game for Eastside and showcased her strikeout ability early and often.
Out of the 13 outs Lawrence recorded, 12 came by way of the strikeout. In fact, the senior struck out the side in both the first and second innings.
After a scoreless first, the Lady Eagles’ bats found success after a trio of singles from Savanna Griffin, Jayah Johnson and Avery Jewell.
With the bases loaded, a fly ball from Ansley Hartman scored a pair of runners. However, Walnut Grove managed to record the final out when Jewell attempted to tag up from first to second.
In the top of the fourth, Johnson increased the lead from 2-0 to 4-0 on one swing when she sent a line drive two-run home run over the left field fence.
One inning later, Morain took a big swing and sent a home run to the opposite field to make it a 5-0 advantage.
A sacrifice fly from Eva Davis scored another to end the inning as the Lady Eagles led 6-0 with all the momentum.
However, one inning changed everything for the Lady Warriors.
After the team was held at bay by Lawrence all afternoon, Walnut Grove managed to load the bases on a walk, an error and a single.
Lawrence struck out the next batter, but an error behind the dish allowed the Lady Warriors to score their first run of the day.
Kolbi Garner and Addison Simpson then smacked back-to-back RBI singles off Lawrence to cut Eastside’s lead in half.
After the two singles, head coach Heather Wood decided to make a change on the mound as she handed it over to Davis with runners on first and second.
Davis was welcomed into the game with three base hits in a row as Walnut Grove quickly found itself down by one.
A groundout from Madison Whitley scored another run to tie the game at 6-6 to close out the inning.
Walnut Grove’s six-run frame evened things up, but Eastside showed why they are one of the top ranked teams in the state shortly thereafter.
After a leadoff walk from Jewell and a single from Ansley, Morain scored both on a two-run single into right field to give the lead right back to the Lady Eagles.
But they did not stop there.
Alyssa Hartman singled in the next at-bat and Allie Vaughn was then plunked to load the bases with no outs.
Davis then hit a pop fly into right that was misplayed and dropped, which allowed a run to score on an error.
A sacrifice fly from Griffin and an RBI single from Lawrence made it a 11-6 lead for the Lady Eagles, but it was about to get even bigger.
With two runners on, Johnson smoked another ball over the left field fence. This time, it was a three-run home run to put Eastside ahead 14-6.
Walnut Grove managed to escape the frame without any more damage, but Davis pitched a scoreless inning right after to close the game via run rule.
Johnson’s two blasts highlighted the offense for the Lady Eagles as she totaled three hits for five RBIs.
Morain followed with two hits and three runs driven in.
Ansley also acquired a multi-hit game along with a pair of RBIs.
The win moved the Lady Eagles to 6-0 on the season and 4-0 against Region 8-AAAA teams. Next up for Eastside is another region matchup against North Oconee on Thursday, Sept. 4.
