No. 1 Rockmart sweeps its way to Columbus

♦ The Lady Yellow Jackets defeat East Laurens in the second round of the Class AA state playoffs.

Falling back on what has brought them success all season, the Rockmart Lady Yellow Jackets used pitching Wednesday to power through the second round of the Class AA softball state playoffs.

The No. 1-ranked Lady Yellow Jackets swept visiting East Laurens on Wednesday 12-0 in Game 1 and 16-0 in Game 2 to move on to the Elite Eight in Columbus for the first time since 2017.

The wins against East Laurens (14-14) avenges Rockmart’s early-round departure in last year’s state playoffs when they were upset in the second round by No. 2 seed Banks County.

Lady Jacket Emilee Register threw another no-hitter in the circle and struck out five in a four-inning Game 1 on Wednesday, while Carlee Graham struck out five and gave up only one hit in a four-inning Game 2.

In Game 1, the Lady Jackets led 4-0 through the first three innings before piling on eight more runs in the bottom of the fourth to seal the win.

Kinsey Jones and Gracey Arnold each had three hits for Rockmart (27-3), Caroline Conring and Emma Evans each had three RBIS, and Anna Lewis had two hits and two RBIS.

In Game 2, Rockmart scored early and often opening the game with a four-run first inning. The Lady Jackets added three, six and three runs, respectively, over the next three innings to cruise to victory.

Evans racked up four hits and four RBIS in Game 2, Jones had two hits and three RBIS, Conring had two RBIS and Alexis Teems had three hits.

Rockmart now has three shutouts in the playoffs so far, only allowing three runs in Game 2 of their first-round series against Callaway.

The Lady Jackets swept the Lady Cavaliers 12-0 and 19-3.

Rockmart will be back in action on Oct. 24 when they take a 12-game winning streak into the Elite Eight, returning

to Columbus for the first time since the Lady Jackets won the Class AA state championship two years ago.

The Lady Jackets haven’t lost a game since a 4-1 loss to Gordon Lee on Sept. 14, finished region play with a perfect 14-0 record and won their fourth straight Region 7-AA championship.