Lady Jackets falls in second round of playoffs
The Calhoun softball team hosted the Apalachee Lady Wildcats in the second-round of the GHSA playoffs on Thursday night. The Lady Jackets fought hard in both games but fell just short to the visitors 2-1 and 6-3.
The Lady Jackets were close to forcing a third game, as they took Apalachee to extra innings in the second game. However, in the ninth inning, the Lady Wildcats’ Sam Woody hit a 3-run home run to send her team to the Elite Eight of the state tournament.
Calhoun coach Diane Smith shared her thoughts in the wake of Calhoun’s second game elimination.
“I really thought we were going to pull that game out,” Smith said. “The girls never gave up and battled hard for nine innings. Maggie (McBrayer) was doing a great job on the mound, and there were some outstanding defensive plays made. I was very proud of them working together as a team.”
McBrayer had a solid night from the mound overall, but Apalachee took advantage of a couple of early Calhoun defensive mistakes and scored some runs of their own. They shut the Lady Jackets down offensively after the fourth inning. Smith saw the inability for the Lady Jackets to do more offensively as the nail in the coffin in the 6-3 loss.
“You must score runs in order to win no matter how great your pitcher and defense performs, Smith said. “We had difficulty adjusting to the screw ball in both games, and we just couldn’t seem to put the ball in play.”
The first game was a pitchers’ duel between McBrayer and Apalachee’s Emily Hodnett that Calhoun came up short in, losing 2-1 in seven innings. McBrayer threw eight strikeouts from the mound and gave up two runs on six hits. Lyndi Rae Davis accounted for the Lady Jacket’s only run with a homer.
Smith talked about McBrayer’s performance.
“Maggie had one of her best performances in those two games,” Smith said. “She gave it her all, and she leaves Calhoun High as one of our most successful pitchers.”
Despite the disappointing result, Smith praised her team for their performance this season.
“Even though we finished with
an overall record of 21-9, we had a successful season, Smith said. “We won the Region 7-AAAAA Championship, and we went undefeated in the Gordon Lee Tournament. We defeated teams later in the season that we had lost to earlier. We were the only team in our region to have a JV team. We saw a lot of young talent, and the future continues to look bright for Calhoun softball.”