Three local teams have punched their ticket to the state softball tournament in their respective classifications and one of those teams, the Starrs Mill Lady Panthers, enter the tournament as a top seed and a region champion.

The Lady Panthers began the Region 4-AAAAA tournament with a game against Fayette County. They won 1-0 on the strength of a pitching performance from Paige Peurifoy and an RBI from Amanda Howett. Following the game against the Lady Tigers, Starrs Mill defeated East Coweta 3-1. Howett, the winning pitcher in the game, once again drove in a run and Katie Ison drove in two more. Starrs Mill then took on the top ranked team in the state in the most recent GaSports.com poll, Union Grove, and won 1-0. Peurifoy once again went the distance, striking out six and giving up only three hits. She was also the batter when an error was made on her hit, scoring the winning run. The Lady Panthers then waited to see who they would play in the final and once again, it was Union Grove.

This time, Starrs Mill picked up a 2-1 win to take home the region title, their second one. Howett got the win, pitching all eight innings and striking out five batters. The Lady Panthers had a 1-0 lead after Lynsey Tedford hit an RBI triple with two outs in the bottom of the second inning and the lead stuck until the top of the seventh. Starrs Mill had Union Grove down to their final out but a hit, two passed balls and an error tied the game. The girls didnt get down though. They played great defense in the eighth inning, particularly a play from Lindsay Glidden that took Union Groves lead runner off the bases. In the bottom of the inning, Starrs Mill got a little luck of their own. Cate Rosa was on second due to the international tie-breaker, advanced to third on a passed ball an scored on a wild pitch with Lindsey Walker at the plate.

Coach Mark Williamson was very proud of his team and admitted that it felt good to beat Union Grove, which is a very good ball team. Were a very good ball team right now too, he added.

Starrs Mill will open the AAAAA state softball tournament in Tifton next Friday against the fourth seed from region 3-AAAAA at 6 p.m.

Fayette County will head to the state tournament as the fourth seed from region 4-AAAAA. After losing to Starrs Mill, they were able to defeat Newnan in eight innings on Tuesday to earn the bid to the tournament. They will play the top seed from region 3-AAAAA in Tifton at 6 p.m. next Friday.

Across the county, Whitewater and McIntosh were fighting for a trip to the AAAA state playoffs. On Monday, Whitewater defeated Sandy Creek and McIntosh beat Alexander to make the second round on Tuesday. The Lady Chiefs lost to Northgate, putting them in a game against Villa Rica on Wednesday, while Whitewater faced Chapel Hill and lost in the eight inning on the international tiebreaker. The losses had McIntosh face Villa Rica and Whitewater take on Alexander on Wednesday afternoon. The winners of those games would make the state tournament.

In the Whitewater game, Tess Echols drove in Jamie Saunders in the bottom of the first but Alexander tied the game on two errors in the top of the second. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Megan Gentry drove in Echols and Gentry scored on an error by the Alexander centerfielder. This was all the Lady Wildcats would need to get the win. Ashley Pedersen was the winning pitcher for Whitewater.

On the field next door, McIntosh battled Villa Rica scoreless through four innings but Villa Rica scored a run with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. The loss knocked the Lady Chiefs out of the tournament and ended their season. Villa Rica then handed a 2-1 loss to Whitewater, putting them in a game with Chapel Hill on Thursday. The winner of that game will face Northgate for the region title.

Whitewater will play the top seed from region 3-AAAA at Diamond Lakes in Augusta next Friday at 6 p.m.

login to post comments