EC wins extra inning affair with Alexander, pitchers record 19 Ks

Photos courtesy of Barbara Lecuona

 

 

Aniston Wright (top), Rachel Vaughan (center)  and Kelley Lynch (bottom) combined to retire 18 of 30 Alexander batters by strikeout.

DOUGLASVILLE-Anybody who felt the Monday evening non-region softball contest between the East Coweta Lady Indians and the Alexander Lady Cougars would be close did not leave disappointed.
In the battle between the top-ranked team in class AAAAAAA (EC) and the defending AAAAA champs (Alexander). 10 innings were required to determine a winner and when the final out was record, the Lady Indians had a 4-3 victory.

By virtue of the win, the Lady Indians remain undefeated with an 18-0 record as they host the Wheeler Lady Wildcats on Tuesday in the final Region 2-AAAAAAA game of the season.

The Lady Cougars drop to 15-6 with the loss as they attempt to complete their Region 5-AAAAA schedule.

Fans also had the opportunity to witness a strong pitching performance as Kelley Lynch, Rachel Vaughan and Aniston Wright combined for 18 strikeouts and allowed seven hits over 10 innings.

The game was tied at 3-3 as the 10^th inning began with Lilly Agan on second base under the International Tiebreaker rule.

An infield single by Olivia Davis allowed Agan to move to third with Lynch coming to the plate.

With Lynch at the plate, Davis was able to steal second to get into scoring position but the former was unable to get either player home as she hit a pop to shortstop.

However, teammate Ashlynn Gunter picked her up with a sacrifice fly to center field allowing Agan to come home from third with the lead run for the Lady Indians.

In the bottom of the frame, Landry Solomon began at second base under the ITB rule for the Lady Cougars and advanced to third with the potential tying run on a wild pitch by Lynch.

However, Lynch recovered by retiring the first batter on a popfly to Gunter at third and the next two by swinging third strikes.

In five innings of relief, Lynch had 10 strikeouts while allowing one hit and two walks while hitting two batters.

The Lady Indians took the first lead of the game in the top of the first inning as Agan reached on a single and moved to third on a single by Lynch before eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly by Gunter.

After two outs in the bottom of the frame, the Lady Cougars came back to tie the game at 1-1 as Faith Shirley was hit by a pitch and courtesy runner Solomon was able to score on a double by Georgia Blair off Wright.

Alexander had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the second inning with two runners on base and one out but Wright was able to end the threat with a strikeout and a pop to Davis at second base.

Vaughan took over for Wright on the pitching rubber in the bottom of the third inning and the senior recorded five strikeouts in the first two innings while allowing one hit.

Vaughan had trouble in the bottom of the fifth inning as the Lady Cougars scored twice to take a 3-1 lead.

The Lady Indians came back in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game at 3-3 as Ashlynn Gunter led off with a single and after one out, Vaughan and Ansley Gunter reached on singles that loaded the bases.

A wild pitch allowed Ashlynn Gunter to score and move pinch runners Kenadie Cooper and Katie Taylor into scoring position.

After the second out of the inning was recorded, Carmen Prior hit a ball to second that allowed Cooper to score the tying run as Taylor was caught in a rundown before getting tagged out at third.

The Lady Cougars had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the seventh inning with two runners on base and one out, but Lynch was able to end the threat with a pair of strikeouts that sent the game into extra innings.