SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. — One swing changed everything for Social Circle in the second round as the Lady Redskins were stunned by 21-seed Armuchee, who won the series on the road.

That one swing came in the final moment of game two, when a 2-2 pitch from Emily Turner was hit out by Hayln Ballard for a walk-off three-run home run.

The walk off blast gave Armuchee a 12-10 win in game two, a game the Lady Indians trailed 6-10 as they were down to their final three outs.

Ballard’s swing also seemed to change the entire series, as the Lady Indians took control of the decisive game three and never looked back.

Social Circle’s game three defeat of 0-4 ended the team’s season at a record of 27-7.

Turner opens series with strong performance to deliver win

Game one proved to be a slow burner, but it was Social Circle that prevailed on a complete game from Turner.

Turner went on to pitch all seven innings and did so efficiently as she allowed four hits to go with 11 strikeouts.

Armuchee struck first on a run that scored due to a dropped third strike.

However, a three-run third inning proved to be all that the Lady Redskins needed.

After three walks loaded the bases, a RBI single from Turner gave Social Circle a 2-1 lead.

Before Armuchee could get the final out, Kyla Head scored on a steal of home to extend the lead to 3-1.

Turner pitched back-to-back scoreless frames, but the Lady Indians began to put pressure on when Aubrey McConkey led off the sixth inning with a leadoff homer.

The lead was now trimmed down to one, but the Lady Redskins found a way to win.

When it came time for the seventh, Turner delivered with her best pitches of the day to strike out the side and take game one.

Social Circle was out-hit in the opening contest, but the work of Turner carried the Lady Redskins to the win.

Lady Indians rally late in game two to complete comeback

After a low-scoring affair in game one, game two was anything but.

The runs were there for both teams, and they arrived early.

The scorecard was flipped as the Lady Redskins began the game at the plate, and a RBI double for. Anniston Jenkins put them ahead 1-0.

After a scoreless frame from Selah Adams on the mound, Head added onto the Social Circle lead with a single in the second.

A leadoff homer from Aubri Dostart in the bottom of the second made it a one-run game, but Social Circle seemed to break it open in the third.

A costly error from McConkey on the mound allowed one run to score, but it was a two-run homer off the bat of Annika Lott that helped the hosts establish a 5-1 lead.

Now down by multiple runs, the Lady Indians started to rally.

A two-run double from Addy Cunningham brought the lead down to two, then a RBI groundout made it a one-run game going into the seventh.

With momentum seemingly on the side of Armuchee, Social Circle added what it thought would be enough insurance runs.

RBI hits from Turner, Natalie Vandenberg and Kailey Benefield extended the Social Circle lead from 5-4 to 10-4.

McConkey got the final out of the frame on a strikeout, but the Lady Indians faced an uphill battle down by six runs with only three outs left.

In need of a late rally, Armuchee got it.

The Lady Indians loaded the bases with only one out before Ashlyn Burrage and Trinity Vitello delivered with RBI knocks that trimmed Social Circle’s lead down to 10-7.

A lineout from Cunningham meant that Armuchee only had one out to work with.

With their backs against the wall, Armuchee’s bats came through.

Back-to-back RBI base hits once again made it a one-score game with two runners still on base.

This allowed for Ballard to step to the plate before she took perhaps the biggest swing of the series to force a game three at Social Circle the next day.

Game two proved to be the high point for both offenses as the two schools combined for 22 runs on 24 hits.

McConkey’s start paves way for a series win for Armuchee

The final game of the series was played on Thursday, Oct. 23 as the two teams returned to the diamond to determine who would move on to Columbus.

Armuchee delivered in the final moments of game two, and that momentum seemed to carry over into the final game of the series.

McConkey took the mound in the final game and pitched the best line of the series as she pitched a complete game shutout over Social Circle.

Social Circle found itself in spots to come through, but the team just fell short to deliver a big hit when the team needed it the most.

McConkey held Social Circle to only four hits in the game and fielded her position well as the Lady Redskins had five groundouts to the pitcher.

Armuchee slowly chipped away at Turner and Adams to accumulate a 7-0 lead that was enough to secure the victory.

A pair of singles in the first two innings started the scoring for the Lady Indians, but the seven runs were highlighted by a two-run home run from Kelsey Arp that seemed to put the game away.

Season outlook

For Social Circle, the series loss to Armuchee put an end to a 2025 campaign that saw the team finish 27-7.

The Lady Redskins were dominant in region play once again as the team went a perfect 10-0 on their way to a Region 4A-Division title.

Thursday’s game also marked the final innings for a trio of Lady Redskins that provided multiple years of experience in the program — Turner, Head and Aubri Digby.