Lady Indians gain split with Lady Mustangs

SHARPSBURG-The doubleheader Wednesday between the East Coweta Lady Indians and the Ola Lady Mustangs allowed head coach Franklin Deloach to get a look at his trio of sophomore pitchers in their first varsity game.
In the opening game, Morgan Goree struggled at the beginning of her debut but settled down to pitch a solid outing in the Lady Indians 3-1 but her fellow sophomores Kayla Vincent and Kaylin Wall had problems in a 9-8 loss in the nightcap.
The two games were part of the Georgia Dugout Club Tournament being held in various parts of the Atlanta area.
"We went through growing pains tonight," Deloach commented. "We won the first game and fought back in the second. It was a good experience against a great team."
In the opening game, the Lady Mustangs wre the home team and the surroundings served them well in the bottom of the first inning as Jordan Doggett reached on a walk and Morgan Bradford followed with a single.
Starting pitcher Savannah McHellon was retired on strikes but a throwing error allowed Doggett and Bradford to advance a base before Jurie Joyner followed with an RBI single.
After Doggett scored, Bradford and a courtesy runner remained stranded as Goree induced a popfly and a groundout to end the frame.
The Lady Mustangs threatened to add to their lead in the bottom of the second inning as they loaded the bases, but Goree recorded three strikeouts as Ola was getting on base.
The Lady Indians had an opportunity to get on the board in the top of the third inning as Gracelynn Newman, Kia Smith and Mekhia Freeman reached on one out infield singles but McHellon was able to keep EC from getting on the board as Shemiah Sanchez was retired on a foul pop and Katey Lynch ended the inning on a groundout.
The Lady Mustangs threatened to add to the lead in the bottom of the third after two were out as they reached on a pair of Lady Indian errors and a single loaded the bases but a ball hit back to Goree resulted in the third out as her throw to catcher Reba Jones at the plate ended the frame.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Lady Mustangs defense let them down and the Lady Indians took advantage after two outs as Smith and Freeman scored when a ball hit by Sanchez was mishandled by the Ola second baseman.
The lead gave Goree a chance to get through the game as she retired the side in order in the fifth and sixth innings and Maggie Morrow gave her an extra run in the top ofthe sixth as she lined a one out shot over the center field fence for a solo home run.
The Lady Mustangs threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh as the first two batters reached, but Goree managed to get through the frame with a force play, a strikeout and a groundout.
In seven innings, Goree allowed six hits, recorde three walks and had eight strikeouts.
"Morgan did a nice job," Delaoch said. "She was nervous at the beginning but she came back strong and finished the game."
In the nightcap, the first inning started well for the Lady Indians as starting pitcher Kaylin Wall retired the Lady Mustangs in order in the top of the inning while Smith and Sanchez reached base in the bottom of the frame.
However, the game went awry at that point for EC as the next three batters were retired and in the top of the second inning Ola scored three runs to take the lead.
The Lady Indians threatened to score after one out in the bottom of the third as they loaded the bases after a single by Smith, an infield error and a single by Lynch but a force play and a flyball would negate the scoring opportunity.
The Lady Mustangs were able to take advantage of their scoring opportunity in the top of the fourth inning after the first batter was retired as four straight batters reached base with two runs coming home and a pitching change during the frame as Vincent replaced Wall.
Trailing 5-0, the Lady Indians rallied in the bottom of the fourth inning as Newman and Bailey Schmieder led off with singles and with one out, an error and a two-run double by Freeman cut the margin to 5-3.
The Lady Mustangs responded with four runs in the top of the fifth inning toi take a 9-3 lead and the Henry County club felt good despite surrendering a run in the bottom of the sixth inning as Smith singled and eventually came home on a two-out single by Lynch.
However, the Indians had a two out rally in the bottom of the seventh inning and batted around in the frame to give the fans an exciting finish.
Bailey Schmieder reached on a walk then Gabby Freed, Smith and Freeman followed with singles that brought two runs home and after a pair of errors, Freed and Smith came home to cut the deficit to a run with the tying and winning runs on base.
However, the rally was cut short as Ola starter Raya Moncus was able to record a strikeout to end the game.
The Lady Indians wre expected to continue play in the tournament Friday afternoon against Eagles Landing Christian Academy and Saturday against Forsyth Central at home and on the road at Whitewater.