Walker County Messenger

Heritage rallies past Gordon Lee to claim third straight NGAC title

- By Scott Herpst

It wasn’t exactly déjà vu, but for the Heritage Generals and the Gordon Lee Lady Trojans, it was close enough.

After falling on Friday night at Heritage in Game 1 of the 2017 North Georgia Athletic Conference softball tournament championsh­ip finals, the Navy-and-Red battled back to win Games 2 and 3 in Chickamaug­a on Saturday to claim the crown and three-peat as NGAC champions.

Heritage 13, Gordon Lee 5

The Generals got two hits and three RBIs from Jessica Gibson in Game 2 on Saturday morning. Dawson added two more hits, while Kokinda was 2-for-2 with two walks and one RBI.

Farrow had a walk, a double and a homer for Gordon Lee. Lanham and Jackson both went 2-for-3, while Phillips layed down a pair of sacrifice bunts.

Heritage 5, Gordon Lee 4

The Lady Trojans pushed home a run in the bottom of the seventh before loading the bases with two outs. But Heritage would get the final out on an infield pop-up at first base, securing the conference tournament crown.

Dawson and Gibson each drove in two runs in the dramatic series finale. Zoe Wright was 3-for-4 with a run batted in, while Kokinda, Dawson and Lexie Duckett were each 2-for4.

Farrow had a double, drew three walks and knocked in a pair of runs. Hudson went 2-for4 with an RBI, while Lanham, Jackson and Smith added one hit each.

The sweep on the final day of the season came nearly one year to the day that Heritage won twice at home over Gordon Lee to win the title in 2016. The Lady Trojans won Game 1 last year in Chickamaug­a, 1-0, before Heritage claimed 8-0 and 10-2 victories back at home.

Heritage swept Trion in the 2015 finals to start their current run of titles.

More coverage on the early rounds of the tournament can be found on our website at northwestg­eorgianews. com/catoosa_walker_ news.

 ??  ?? Shanna Burk sends a pass toward the net as teammate Jamese Miller looks on. The Lady Bobcats pushed the Covenant College JV squad to four sets before finally taking the loss last Monday, but Georgia Northweste­rn would bounce back on Friday to win...
Shanna Burk sends a pass toward the net as teammate Jamese Miller looks on. The Lady Bobcats pushed the Covenant College JV squad to four sets before finally taking the loss last Monday, but Georgia Northweste­rn would bounce back on Friday to win...

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