Lady Indians headed to Elite Eight for eighth straight year

SHARPSBURG-Shemiah Sanchez had four hits, scored three runs and had four RBIs in two games Wednesday to lead  the East Coweta Lady Indians to a two-game sweep in their best-of-three AAAAAA playoff series with the Colquitt County Lady Packers.

The Lady Indians defeated the Lady Packers 8-2 in the opener and took the nightcap with a 9-1 six-inning win to secure their eighth straight trip to the state tournament in Columbus.

In the opener, Kia Smith led off the bottom of the first inning with a single and a stolen base before coming home on a two-out single to left by Reba Jones.

Running for Jones, Jenny Matherne scored on a triple to right by Sarah Colwell and Katey Lynch brought her home with a single to right field.

The Lady Packers (17-16) got on the scoreboard in the top of the third inning as Shelby Rakestraw led off with a walk and stole second before coming home on single by Shameka Reynolds.  

The Lady Indians (31-3-1) added to their lead in the bottom of the third inning as Sanchez flirted with a home run but had to settle for a triple as the ball bounced back onto the field after hitting the top of the fence.

After Jones reached on an infield single, Sanchez scored as Colwell grounded out to shortstop and after Matherne (running for Jones) stole second and advanced to third, Lynch had an RBI groundout.

Colquitt County cut the score to 5-2 in the top of the fourth inning as Cheyenne Tillman led off with a single and scored on a two-out single by Rakestraw.

East Coweta scored two runs after two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning as Smith and Mekhia Freeman reached base on hits and scored on a pair of infield errors.

The Lady Indians scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the sixth as Sanchez reached on a one out single and scored on a single by Colwell.

Megan Chocallo was the benefactor of the run support in the game as she pitched a three-hitter and recorded four strikeouts.

Chocallo also benefited from run support in the nightcap as the Lady Indians scored an unearned run in the top of the first inning as Freeman reached on a two-base error and came home on a single by Jones.

The Lady Indians scored a run in the top of the second as Lynch led off with a single and advanced to second on an error before eventually scoring when Casey Lambert grounded out to second.

Sanchez had a hand in the Lady Indians’ scoring in the next two frames as she drilled a solo home run over the center field fence in the top of the third and had a two-run, two-out single in the top of the fourth inning that brought Katelyn Bedrosian and Smith plateward.

After retiring 12 of the first 13 batters of the game, Chocallo ran into some trouble in the bottom of the fifth inning as she faced a bases loaded situation with one out but came out of it allowing one run.

Fielding plagued the Lady Packers in the top of the sixth inning as they committed a pair of errors that helped lead to four runs in the frame as Freeman, Sanchez, Colwell and Lynch had RBIs for the final margin of victory.