Heritage rallies to win NGAC softball crown
After being silenced in Game 1 of the North Georgia Athletic Conference softball tournament championship series on Friday, the bats awoke for the Heritage Generals on Saturday.
Heritage used a fiverun second inning in Game 2 and a six-run fourth inning in Game 3 to rally for a pair of wins over Gordon Lee to claim the title.
Gordon Lee 1, Heritage 0
An RBI-double by Emma Langston in the bottom of the seventh was the difference for the second-seeded Lady Trojans on Friday as they claimed a home win over the top-seeded Generals and pitching ace Rachel Gibson in the first game of the best-of-three series.
Gibson had allowed just one hit through six innings of work, but a one-out walk to Marianne Believeau got the rally started. Asia Lanham dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move the runner to third and Langston would put it away with a hit down the left field line.
The only other hit for Gordon Lee was a fifth-inning single by Lanham. Pitcher Emma Minghini won the game and finished with nine strikeouts.
Heritage 8, Gordon Lee 0
Back at home in Ringgold, the Generals pushed home two runs in the bottom of the first inning, but five runs would come home an
inning later as seven straight hitters reached base.
Carmen Gayler had a pair of doubles in the victory, while Morgan Phillips and Riley Kokinda each finished with two hits.
Gibson fired a five-inning no-hitter, walking two, hitting one batter and striking out
Heritage 10, Gordon Lee 2
In what would be the final game of the series, Heritage - playing as the home team after winning the coin flip - scored three times in the third inning before blowing the game wide open with a six-spot an inning later.
Gayler had three hits in the game. Sarah Haynes had two hits,
including a fourthinning homerun, while Bailey Christol added a triple in the decisive frame. Gibson and Zoe Wright also had two hits apiece, while Gibson struck out 11.
Gordon Lee had four hits in the final game. Minghini and Madison Farrow each scored a run in the top of the fifth to prevent the shutout.
Gibson was later named the Most Valuable Player.