The 2016 postmortem
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The 2016 season came to an end for the East Coweta Lady Indians in a 1-0 loss to Mill Creek.
The Lady Indians finished fourth in the state among 7A schools with a 30-6 record. Yes, your erstwhile softball journalist had to hold the Region 2-7A trophy.
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An
errant throw on a hot Saturday at the Elite Eight Tournament in
Columbus brought an end to a promising 2016 season for the East
Coweta Lady Indians.
Playing
to a scoreless tie through seven innings, the eighth inning started
under the International Tie Breaker rule prompting a base runner to
start at second base.
A
sacrifice bunt was laid down and the throw went into right field
allowing the winning run came home for the Mill Creek Lady Hawks.
As
the case has been over two seasons, Kelley Lynch turned in a
solid pitching performance with a three-hit, 10 strikeout performance
and nearly gave the Lady Indians a 1-0 lead in the top of the first
when she hit what appeared to be a solo home run.
However,
she and the Lady Indians were denied as the ball was caught over the
fence by the Lady Hawks left fielder.
Mill
Creek would defeat Lassiter 5-0 in the third place game and fall 6-2
to North Gwinnett in the 7A final.
While
the results of the game that ended shortly before one o'clock
resonated during the day on Saturday, a youthful Lady Indians squad
had a season in which many in the state would like to trade for with
a 30-6 ledger.
Featuring
six freshman, three sophomores and four juniors to join lone senior
Lindsay “Lulu” Warren, EC would face 17 teams (excluding
state playoff opponents) that participated in the state playoffs with
eight teams joining them in Columbus.
The
record was 19-4 overall and 7-3 against the Elite Eight participants.
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With the precision of a drill team, the Lady Indians marched in the
parade of teams at the Elite Eight in Columbus. |
After
a 12-0 win over Alexander in the season opener, EC followed with an
11-2 win over the Spalding Tigers in the Georgia Dugout Club
Tournament.
The
Lady Indians overcame a 2-0 deficit with a run in the bottom of the
second followed by a six-run third and a four run fourth as Caison
Byars had a two-run home run, Krys Odum had a two-run
double, Ashlynn Gunter had two hits and scored three runs in
the game.
A
12-0 four inning win over Northside-Warner Robins followed as Carmen
Prior’s two-run single
as part of a five run first while Gunter had a three-run home run and
Lynch had a three run double.
Next
in the tournament came the Effingham County Lady Rebels who had a 4-2
lead in the bottom of the seventh when Olivia Davis had
a run scoring double and Rachel Vaughan drilled
a three-run home run to give the Lady Indians a 6-4 win.
Mary
Persons also proved formidable with a 4-3 lead in the fifth when EC
scored twice and had a run in the sixth to come away with a 6-4 win
but would conclude the GDC event with a 3-1 loss to Columbus.
EC
took out their frustrations on McIntosh after the loss in an 8-1 win
as freshman Aniston Wright
had a pair of doubles while fellow youngster Hanna Miller
had two hits, two
RBIs and three runs scored.
After a 2-0 loss to Heard County,
EC went on an 11-game winning streak that started in McDonough
against longtime rival Union Grove.
Vaughan
dominated the Lady Wolverines in
an 8-0 win as she allowed
two hits while Miller hit a
three-run home run hard,
Warren had a two-run single and Caroline Lively had
a double
and an RBI.
In
one of the “blowout” games during
the season, Prior had an
inside-the-park home run while Madison Lecuona scored
twice and AJ Estrada had
a single and a walk in a 19-0 victory over
Pebblebrook.
Another
“blowout” victory during the streak occurred at Wheeler (20-2)
where Ansley
Duffey had her first varsity
hit with an RBI single while
Davis had four RBIs, three runs scored and her first varsity home
run.
The
11-game streak ended with an 11-8 loss to Northside-Columbus in the
Grayson High tournament at Parkview with the last loss before
Columbus occurring in a game against Buford that featured a quality
pitching duel between Lynch and Lady Wolves pitcher Logan Caymol.
Lynch
was working on a no-hitter until the top of the seventh when she
surrendered the first Buford single of the game that also became the
only run of the contest after an infield error.
Both
pitchers would allow one hit and record 10 strikeouts in the game.
The
Lady Indians recovered from the losses to Northside and Buford with a
3-0 win over Alexander as Lynch allowed one hit over seven innings,
recorded 14 strikeouts and drilled a solo home run in the bottom of
the sixth inning.
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Junior "showoff" Rachel Vaughan lost one game all season
and had several big outings including a 5-1 win over Lowndes
where she allowed four hits and recorded nine strikeouts. |
Two
days later, the Northgate Lady Vikings traveled down Highway 154 for
a rematch of a 1-0 EC victory but Vaughan had no problem on the
pitching rubber for the Lady Indians as she tossed a three-hitter
while contributing three RBIs at the plate in an 8-0 win.
The
next day was Senior Night as the Lady Indians honored lone
“graybeard” Warren by defeating the Chapel Hill Lady Panthers
10-0 as Vaughan allowed six hits over four and one-third innings.
Freshmen
contributed in the win as Byars and Miller combined for three hits,
three runs scored and two RBIs while Prior had two hits, scored a run
and an RBI.
With
the regular season completed, the Region 2-7A Tournament was next and
after a 15-0 win over Westlake that included a grand slam by Wright,
EC was able to defeat Newnan by scores of 7-1 and 8-0 to claim the
trophy and prepare for state.
Providing
the opposition in round one for the Lady Indians was the Woodstock
Lady Wolves in Sharpsburg and the former went to work almost
immediately as they advanced in a sweep by scores of 8-0 and 12-1.
In
game one, Miller had a two-run home run while Vaughan had a pair of
run scoring singles to support the two hit pitching of Lynch who
recorded seven strikeouts.
In
the nightcap, Warren had a two-run triple while Gunter and Lynch each
had three hits in support of Vaughan who allowed two hits over seven
innings.
East
Coweta had their ticket to Columbus stamped in the next round as they
swept the Collins Hill Lady Eagles by scores of 6-1 and 7-1.
Warren
had a two-run double while Prior scored twice in the first game while
the latter had a two-run double to help lead the way in the second
game and it was on to Columbus.
The
ITB would rear its ugly head in the opening game as the Lady Indians
scored twice in the top of the eighth inning to defeat South Forsyth
2-0 as Davis and Lynch had RBIs.
In
the next game, EC would have a 3-1 lead over Lassiter going to the
bottom of the seventh inning but the Lady Trojans tied the game with
a pair of runs despite the best effort of Warren to make a game
ending catch in center field.
Under
the ITB, Lassiter had a runner move to second who advanced to third
on a passed ball before coming home on a sacrifice fly to left field.
The
Lady Indians avoided elimination in the loser’s bracket game as
Vaughn dominated the Lowndes Vikettes 5-1 allowing four hits and
recording a season high nine strikeouts while Lively had an RBI
single and Lynch hit a solo home run.
Saturday
would come and as radio commentator Paul Harvey used to say at the
conclusion of his show “you know the rest of the story”.
However,
a newstory remains to be written in 2017.
The team and where some could be heading
This was the list of who was on the final varsity roster this season. Several of the girls have committed to the college of their choice and that is listed by their names.
5-Caison Byars
14-Ashleigh Campbell
3-Olivia Davis (committed to Georgia State)
16-Ansley Duffey (aka the Duffinator)
23-AJ Estrada
21-Ashlynn Gunter (committed this week to Young Harris)
25-Caroline Lively
10-Kelley Lynch (committed to Auburn)
8-"Hard Hittin'" Hanna Miller
17-Kristen Odum
11-Carmen Prior
1-Lindsay "Lulu" Warren (aka "the Senior" and "the graybeard") (committed to Georgia State, will be signing soon)
20-Aniston Wright (committed to Georgia State)
15-Rachel Vaughan (committed to South Carolina)
The 17 teams that played EC and also in the state playoffs and/or the Elite Eight
The 17 teams on the East Coweta Lady Indians 2016 were as follows:
Alexander (12-0, 3-1) played in the Elite EIght
Effingham County (6-4) Eliminated in second round.
Mary Persons (6-4) Eliminated in first round.
Columbus (1-3) Eliminated in second round.
Westlake (10-0, 15-0) Eliminated in first round of 7A state playoffs
Heard County (0-2) Elite Eight
Union
Grove (8-0, 8-0)
Elite Eight
Whitewater (5-0) Elite Eight
Starr's Mill (10-2) Elite Eight
Newnan (3-1, 7-1, 10-1) Eliminated in the first round by Lassiter.
Wheeler (20-2) Eliminated in first round.
Northgate (1-0, 8-0) Eliminated in second round.
Shiloh (7-4)
Eliminated in first round by eventual 7A champion North Gwinnett.
West
Laurens (8-4) Eliminated in second round
Northside
Columbus (8-11)
Elite Eight
Buford (0-1)
Won state title
Chapel
Hill
Home
10-0 Elite Eight
The record overall: 19-4, Against Elite Eight: 7-3
Notes: Woodstock and Collins Hill were playoff games and are not included. Pike County was on the original schedule but was cancelled due to rain. They also made the Elite EIght but are not included in record.
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