The Gilmer High Lady Cats secured two more region softball wins last week.
GHS was on the road Tuesday, and handled the Southeast Whitfield Raiders with ease, 15-3. The Cats were at home the next day against the Pickens Dragonettes. Following a late PHS rally, the Cats pulled ahead in the sixth inning and held on for a 10-7 win.
Along with a victory over Ridgeland to begin the season, the Cats are 3-3 versus region opponents.
“We won the games we were supposed to win and lost the ones we were supposed to lose. I guess that’s the best way to put it,” GHS coach Amanda Mullis said. “We are fighting a lot of injuries right now. We’ve lost two pitchers and an infielder.”
With regard to the Pickens game, Mullis said, “We needed the win. We’ve been struggling. We tried to give it up. We’re making a lot of errors, both fundamentally and mentally. We definitely needed a pick-me-up. It was good for us as a team, but we’re still struggling.”
The week started with a bang in Whitfield County. The Cats earned their second region win of the season in spectacular fashion.
The game only needed four innings because the Cats built such an advantage on the scoreboard.
While GHS was held in check in the first inning, and scored a run in the second off a Marlee Chadwick double, the third marked their first of two offensive barrages.
With two outs and Macy Hamby on first, Taylor Elliott singled home the Cats’ second run. When Tori Hughes reached on an error, another run scored.
Isabella Chastain’s fly to left field was not handled cleanly, and two more runners raced home. Ensuing singles by Emily Dale and Maddie Wright added a run each time, and the Cats held a commanding 7-1 lead.
A pair of singles by the Raiders allowed them to trim the Cats’ advantage to 7-3, but in the bottom half of the inning, GHS put the game away.
After Jasmine Staley singled to center to lead off the fourth, Jacie Bennett reached on a bunt. Following a pair of outs, the Cats broke out some more two-out hits.
Chadwick kept the inning alive with a two-run single, and the bases were loaded after Chastain walked and Dale singled. A passed ball allowed Chadwick to score before a two-run double by Hamby.
Ahead 12-3, another dropped fly ball in the outfield netted two more runs. Hughes reached on an infield single to plate the Cats’ 15th and final run.
The Raiders were retired in order in the fourth before the game was called.
GHS racked up 13 hits and five Raider errors led to nine unearned runs. Dale earned the complete game victory and allowed five hits, two earned runs and a walk while striking out seven.
When Pickens came to town Wednesday, the Cats jumped ahead early. The first six GHS batters reached base as Dale walked and Wright, Hamby, Staley and Elliott all singled.
Hamby’s base hit scored a run and Staley’s brought two more home. The Cats were able to eventually load the bases, and Chadwick’s single to right gave GHS a 5-0 lead after an inning of play.
Wright’s base hit in the second gave the Cats another run. After a two-run Pickens double in the top of the fourth, Wright was there once again in the bottom half of the inning for another RBI single.
Down 7-2, the Dragonettes began to chip away. A fielder’s choice and two-out base hit trimmed the deficit to three runs in the fifth. After an error and three consecutive base hits to begin the sixth, Pickens tied the score at 7-all.
The Cats loaded the bases in their half of the sixth, and Hamby flew out to score Wright. An ensuing Dragonette throwing error brought Bennett and Dale home as well.
Chastain pitched six innings and closed out the game in the seventh to earn the win. She struck out five, walked one and gave up four hits and two earned runs.
Each team scored three unearned runs on the night and GHS outhit Pickens 12-9.
The Cats ended their week Saturday at the North Cobb Warrior Classic and faced a pair of Class 7A schools. GHS played North Gwinnett first and lost, 10-2. Versus the host Warriors, North Cobb came out on top, 6-0.
“We gave up a lot of runs on a lot of errors, like (dropping) the basic pop fly,” Mullis said.
Saturday’s games were limited to 90 minutes, and North Gwinnett made the most of its time. They scored a run in the first and two in each of the next three innings.
Three more runs crossed home plate in the fifth, and the game was called when GHS could not cut the margin to less than eight runs during its at-bat.
Both of the Cats’ runs were scored in the third inning. Elliott trotted home on a sacrifice fly by Dale. Jaylin Vick scored when Wright reached on an error.
Chastain pitched all five innings, and NGHS outhit the Cats 11-4. Chastain struck out one, walked three and one North Gwinnett run as unearned.
Gilmer struggled at the plate and in the field in its loss to North Cobb.
“We couldn’t get the ball hardly out of the infield (offensively) and errors are eating us alive,” Mullis said. “The infield and outfielders are not communicating so we’re having a lot of balls drop that shouldn’t.
“We’re starting players who we weren’t planning to start. We have the talent, but we’re beating ourselves right now.”
GHS is 4-9 overall and traveled to Ridgeland at press deadline. The Cats will be on the road Thursday as well when they play the LaFayette Ramblers at 5:55 p.m.