Ringgold dominates in first round of state

The Ringgold Lady Tigers entered the Class 3A state softball playoffs with a No. 1 state ranking, a 16-game winning streak and the target on their backs as the likely team to beat.

This past Wednesday afternoon, they played that role to a “T”.

The Blue-and-white got a monster game from Shelby Cole in the opener and used an all-around team effort in the nightcap to sweep visiting Morgan County and advance to the Round of 16. Ringgold (23-3) recorded 27 hits in the sweep, 13 in Game 1 and 14 in Game 2.

Head coach Daniel Hackett credited his team’s patience at the plate for its increased success this season.

“I really think it’s our focus at the plate, along with pitch selection and our hitters just growing up,” he said. ‘We’ve taken a huge leap from last year to this year. When you’ve got seven to nine players in the lineup, and even some players on the bench, that can come up at any time with a chance to do some damage, it’s wonderful and just makes my job easy.”

Ringgold 12, Morgan County 0

Cole came through with an Rbi-single as part of a fiverun first inning and she would make her presence felt even more as the game went on.

She launched a three-run homer in the second inning to increase Ringgold’s lead to 9-0 and she would come up to bat again in the bottom of the fourth after Baileigh Pitts and Riley Nayadley reached base with singles. The centerfielder then blasted her second threerun shot of the game the win the game in walk-off fashion.

“Today was a good day,” said Cole after going 3-for3 with seven RBIS and three runs scored in Game 1, less than a week after bowling a near-perfect game of 299 in a Chattanooga-area league. “We just have to trust each other, know that we have a great defense behind us and just get it done with our bats.”

“All season and really all four years, Shelby’s been able to do stuff like that,” Hackett said. “It’s really nice to see it at this time of the season though. I don’t think we had

Scott Herpst Ringgold senior Shelby Cole had a pair of three-run homers and seven RBIS in a 12-0 state tournament victory over Morgan County last week. Cole and the Lady Tigers completed the sweep with a 7-0 win in Game 2 and will host Tattnall County starting Wednesday.

Scott Herpst Lafayette’s Haynie Gilstrap takes a cut at a pitch during a first-round series game against Stephens County. The Lady Ramblers cruised to a pair of wins and will travel to Hampton on Tuesday with a berth in Columbus at stake.