State Tournament Underway, Dade Hosting First Round Action Friday
By EDDY GIFFORD
Sports Writer
Photo by Eddy Gifford – Lilah Wilson makes the catch in center field in a recent game. The Lady Wolverines will host a first-round state tournament game on Friday, Oct. 18. Game time and opponent had not been announced at press time. The best of three series will conclude Saturday, Oct. 19 if necessary.
The Dade County High School Lady Wolverine softball team headed into the last week of the regular season on Monday, Oct. 7, when they hosted the Lakeview Ft. Oglethorpe Lady Warriors in a non-region game.
The teams have been rivals for many years, and the games are always hard fought, close games. Monday was no exception. Both teams scored a run in the first inning, and the Lady Warriors added a run in the second and third innings to take a 3-1 lead.
The game remained that way until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Lady Wolverines rallied for two runs to tie the game at 3-3.
A scoreless seventh inning sent the game to extra innings where LFO pushed across two run to claim the hard fought 5-3 win.
Lexi Lawson pitched an outstanding game for the Lady Wolverines, pitching all eight innings, giving up seven hits, five runs (only two earned runs), walking three, and striking out eight. She threw 124 pitches in the game.
The Lady Wolverines managed just four hits in the eight-inning game with Isabell White getting the big hit, a two RBI single.
2BH: Page
TB: Page 2, Gross 1, White 1, Talley 1
HBP: Wilson, Talley
E: Page 3
Pitches-Strikes: Lawson 124-82
Batters Faced: Lawson 34
On Wednesday, Oct. 9, the Lady Wolverines hosted the Gordon Lee Lady Trojans in a big region game. A Lady Wolverine win would give them a tie for first place in the region. The Lady Trojans defeated the Lady Wolverines earlier in the season for Dade County’s only region loss of the year.
The Lady Trojans took the early lead when they scored a run in the top of the first inning, but the Lady Wolverines tied the game in the second with their first run of the day.
The game remained 1-1 until the top of the fourth inning when Gordon Lee regained the lead 2-1. They would add another run in the top of the fifth to go up 3-1.
Dade managed to score a run in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to 3-2 and then took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the sixth when they pushed across two runs for a 4-3 lead.
In the top of the seventh, the wheels fell off for the Lady Wolverines as the Lady Trojans rallied for seven runs and took the win by the final score of 10-4.
Dade’s downfall was seven errors as Lawson pitched another outstanding game. She went the distance giving up just two earned runs, walking five, and striking out one. Lawson threw 149 pitches in the game, 93 were strikes.
Madi Page led the Lady Wolverine offense with two hits, one was a home run.
2BH: C. Chambers, Wilson, Page
HR: Page
TB: Page 6, C. Chambers 2, Wilson 2, Byram 1, Daniel 1
E: Page 4, C. Chambers, Byram, Daniel
Pitches-Strikes: Lawson 149-93
Batters Faced: Lawson 38
The Lady Wolverines will now set their sights on a return trip to Columbus to the Elite 8 as the playoffs start this week.
Match ups and game times had not been set at press time, but the Lady Wolverines are set to host a best of three series starting on Friday, Oct. 18, with the if-needed third game scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 19.
Get out and support the Lady Wolverines as they start the playoffs at home!
