COVINGTON, Ga. — Three in a row. That was the sentiment that was felt on the field late on Monday as the Eastside Lady Eagles secured their third straight region championship.
Eastside entered the day still unbeaten at 21-0, and the Lady Eagles had to take down a scrappy Walnut Grove as well as the weather to keep it that way as the two teams battled in a region championship double-header.
Game one seemed to be over from the start as Eastside got ahead early and never looked back.
However, game two proved to be a different story as the rain began to fall and the Lady Eagles had to show that they could win in a multitude of ways.
Nevertheless, Eastside found a way to secure wins to claim Region 8-AAAA, which was not to the surprise of seniors such as Donee Morain.
“It feels great,” Morain said. “It is not shocking though because we work hard all year, all summer, all fall — it did not matter. We worked all year individually and as a team. This is expected, but right now we are expecting to not take our foot off the pedal as well. We have made it three times, so this time we are not satisfied. We got to get the ring next.”
According to head coach Heather Wood, this year’s team etched their names into the records book with the wins.
“It’s exciting, and I was just telling the girls we actually made history here because this is the first team to go undefeated all the way through the region and capture the region championship,” Wood said. “We lost one [region game] last year. We have also now won back-to-back-to-back so that's exciting and I am proud of them for what they have done up to this point.”
Lady Eagles’ bats break away early as Davis pitched a gem
When game one began, it was all Eastside from the very start.
Senior Eva Davis took the mound and put her team in a strong spot with a scoreless frame to open it up.
In the bottom half, Ansley Hartman and Allie Vaughn reached base on singles, which led to an opening score courtesy of Davis, who drove in a run on an RBI single.
Freshman Jayah Johnson kept her strong season going with a RBI single of her own immediately after.
Kylee Lawrence followed with a fly ball to right that looked catchable, but the ball popped out of the right fielder’s glove and allowed both Vaughn and Johnson to come around to score.
A RBI knock from Savanna Griffin put the final touches on what was a five-run frame for the Lady Eagles.
Davis kept it going on the mound, and when she came back around to bat she singled to lead off the bottom of the third.
Right after, Johnson delivered again with a RBI double. Griffin added another run later in the frame to make it a 7-1 lead for Eastside.
Walnut Grove seemed to begin a rally in the fourth after a pair of singles that included one that was lined directly off the back of Davis, who stayed in and shrugged it off.
After she was just struck with the line drive and with two runners now on, Davis still found a way to induce two more outs to leave the frame scoreless.
The Lady Warriors threatened once again in the fifth, but a pair of elite defensive plays from Morain shut the door.
After a leadoff double, a bunt was placed almost perfectly down the third base line. However, Morain raced in and scooped up the ball before she threw a dart to first for the out.
Two batters later and with two outs, a hard-hit line drive was snagged by Morain at third to save a run.
Even then, Morain was not done with the glove.
With two runners on, a groundball to Morain was scooped and she got the out at second base unassisted before she threw out the runner at first for the double play.
The double play did score a run, but prevented any more damage from being done.
“She [Morain] has done that since she was a freshman, she is just an amazing athlete,” Wood said. “She is really just so impactful for our team with her defense. She made plays we have seen her make since she was a freshman so it is nothing new for us.”
RBI knocks from Johnson and Lawrence in the sixth inning closed the door on the win with a 9-1 victory via run-rule.
Johnson’s three hits and three RBIs led the way for Eastside in the win as she also pitched the final inning.
On the mound, Davis pitched five scoreless innings in which she allowed six hits and zero walks.
Lady Eagles prevail in scrappy game two as Lawrence shines
After a dry game one, the rain began to fall in the middle of the second game as the two teams played through.
Eastside managed to win 3-2, but the win did not come easy as the rain seemed to fall the hardest when Lawrence was on the mound for the Lady Eagles.
Despite this, Lawrence managed to pitch a no-hitter for seven full innings.
The start of the game seemed earily similar to the first as Eastside began to put runners on base.
After back-to-back walks, the Lady Eagles struck first on a RBI single from Vaughn to make it 1-0. However Walnut Grove’s Kolbi Garner got three straight outs to end the frame.
The Lady Warriors got started with a runner on base as well as an error from Vaughn put a runner on.
After a pair of outs moved the runner to third base, a wild pitch from Lawrence scored the run to tie the game at 1-1.
The next three innings saw both pitchers duel it out as neither team found ways to score.
Walnut Grove threatened on multiple occasions as the downpour led to walks and wild pitches from Lawrence, but the senior managed to shut the door every time.
When it came time for the top of the fifth, Eastside put a runner on base to leadoff the frame after a costly error on the infield.
Morain’s sacrifice bunt allowed the runner to get to third base, which led to a sacrifice fly from Hartman as Eastside manufactured the go-ahead run at 2-1.
Following a scoreless frame from Lawrence, Eastside added one more on a RBI groundout from Griffin.
In the bottom of the sixth and down 1-3, Walnut Grove began threatened once again in the heavy rain.
A dropped third strike and a walk put two on base to begin the frame, and a sacrifice fly from Simpson scored one run.
Now with a one-run deficit and a runner at second base, Walnut Grove found itself in a chance to tie the game and put the pressure on the undefeated Lady Eagles.
The Lady Warriors runner attempted to steal third base, and the throw from catcher Cadence McCullough beat her by multiple steps as she was tagged out in a run down.
As Eastside left the field with all the energy, it seemed to carry over into the next inning when Lawrence took the mound in the seventh when the rain stopped.
Strikout, strikout, strikeout — ballgame.
Despite the challenge of multiple Walnut Grove rallies, no one lost any confidence in the team’s starter, according to Morain.
“When the ball is in their hands, we got it,” Morain said. “I don't doubt it at all in these moments. Kylee got it, I knew she had it. I am not shocked at all, this is what we work on.”
That same message is shared by Wood, who saw her starter pitch through different challenges on Monday.
“I was extremely proud of her,” Wood said. “She had a lot of adversity she had to go through in all that but she stayed in control and continued to control the game and I think she had a no-hitter. I am really proud of her for her presence on the mound and getting through those innings."
With how close game two was, Wood was happy to see her team show that they can win in games that are close as well as in the shootouts.
“They came early in the first game and put up runs on the board quickly,” Wood said. “The second game was a little slower but they seem to do well when pressure is on. That's something they probably would have not done a few years ago when they were younger, but they are now mature and seniors so they have handled those situations really well so far this season.”
Lawrence’s no-hitter paved the way she struck out 14 Walnut Grove batters through seven innings of work.
Hartman came through with a strong performance in game two she finished 1-for-1 with one RBI and two walks.
Eastside will take on Morgan County on the road on Wednesday, Oct. 8 before it wraps up the regular season with a highly-anticipated battle with the undefeated Buford Lady Wolves on Thursday, Oct. 9.
