Sonoraville shows off arms in first-round sweep of Coahulla Creek,

CALHOUN, Ga. — If pitching is the key to making a long postseason run in fastpitch softball, then the Sonoraville Phoenix better get ready to play a few weeks more.

Sonoraville showed off its arms Tuesday in a Region 6-AAA tournament first-round series sweep of Coahulla Creek, getting a 13-strikeout three-hitter from Kristen Davis in a 4-0 victory and allowing only one earned run in a 6-4, eight-inning win in game two.

The Phoenix (15-10) clinched a state playoff berth with the sweep and will either travel to Ringgold or host Adairsville on Saturday in a semifinal best-of-three series beginning with a doubleheader.

While game one was a breeze as Davis was in complete control, Sonoraville trailed 3-1 after four innings of the second game, mostly due to three errors in the second and third innings. The Phoenix rallied for single runs in the fifth — on Alyssa Hughes’ home run — and the sixth to tie the game and won with a three-run eighth inning.

“I think we have a team that finds ways to win,” Sonoraville coach Chad Hayes said. “Coming off last year — and we did this a lot last year — this team just has confidence that if we get down they will find a way to battle back.”

After the hard-throwing Davis dominated game one, Hayes started control pitcher Kelsey Mulkey in game two. Though Mulkey exited after four innings down two runs, she allowed only three hits and no earned runs. The harder-throwing Hughes followed and worked three scoreless innings.

She earned the win after Sonoraville, the visitors in game two, used a Griffin Holden single, a double by Mollie Locke and Emma Garland’s RBI single to score three in the eighth. Flame-thrower Davis locked down the win in the bottom half.

“We came back and changed speeds in game two after Kristen was lights out in game one to keep them off balance,” Hayes said. “We then came back with more speed to finish them off. That’s the way we’ve been using them, and it worked to our advantage today.”

In game one, catcher Baylee Blaylock was 3-for3 with three RBIs to give Davis all the run support she would need. Blaylock added two more hits in the nightcap, while leadoff hitter Harleigh Chastain had two hits in each game.

“From the start today we knew we had to jump on them and not slow down,” Blaylock said. “I’m really proud of my team tonight, and I can’t wait to get to state. Hopefully we can win Saturday and fight for a region championship. We want to become the first Sonoraville team to host a playoff series.”