EC advances to championship round with win over Newnan, Vaughan matches season high with 11K

File Photo courtesy of Barbara Lecuona

Rachel Vaughan matched her season high with
11 strikeouts inher two-hitter over Newnan. She
also reached base twice and had an RBI.

SHARPSBURG-Regardless of sport, a matchup of East Coweta and Newnan will probably be a tight contest and Wednesday evening offered nothing different as the the two did battle in the second round of the Region 2-AAAAAAA softball tournament.
Carmen Prior broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth inning with a two out single that led to a 6-0 win for the Lady Indians as Rachel Vaughan tossed a three-hit shutout that included 11 strikeouts.
The 11 strikeouts matched a season high Vaughan set originally on September 22 in a 7-3 win at North Gwinnett.
The win improved the Lady Indians record to 27-0 as they advanced to the championship round while the Lady Cougars fell to 21-3 as they will face Campbell Thursday at 4:30 with the winner advancing to the final against the Lady Indians.
Campbell scored 10 runs in the top of the fifth inning to defeat Westlake 17-4 with the latter falling to 7-10 and the fourth seed from the region for the upcoming state tournament.
The Lady Indians threatened to get on the board early as Lilly Agan reached on an error in the bottom of the first inning and moved to second on a sacrifice by Olivia Davis and tried to score on a two out single to left by Ashlynn Gunter.
However, Lady Cougars left fielder Lindsey Bloom threw a strike to catcher Reagan London who tagged Agan out to end the frame.
Through the first three innings, Vaughan and Newnan's Ansley Houston kept zeroes on the scoreboard in their own way.
Vaughan with the strikeout (six through the first three frames) while Houston overcame baserunners with pitches that got her out of trouble.
Vaughan ran into the only situation she would face during the game as surrendered back-to-back singles to Alex Williams and Bloom with one out in the top of the fourth but a pair of strikeouts stranded the duo and kept the game scoreless.
That would be the last chance the Lady Cougars to rally as Vaughan retired the next 11 batters in a row.
Houston was not as fortunate as she appeared to be getting out of a situation in the bottom of the fourth inning with pinch runner Katie Taylor at second base and two outs.
However, she was unable to escape trouble as Prior lined a single to right center field that scored Taylor from second base for the first run of the night.
The Lady Indians added to the run total with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning as Kelley Lynch drilled a shot over the left center field fence for a solo home run and Ashlynn Gunter followed with a double to left center field.
Gunter advanced to third on a wild pitch and came home on a sacrifice fly to center field by Vaughan and the lead was 3-0 for the latter.
Vaughan retired the side in order in the top of the sixth and her teammates came back to the dugout in the bottom of the frame to score three more runs.
With one out, Prior singled and stole second and moved to third when Agan grounded out before an infield error allowed her to score and Davis to reach base.
Davis raced home on a two out double by Lynch and Krys Odum, sent into the game as a pinch runner, was the final person to score as Ashlynn Gunter reached on an infield error.
In the top of the seventh inning, Vaughan was able to finish off the Lady Cougars in order with a pair of groundouts and closed out with a strikeout of Addie Andrews to reach 11 strikeouts and end the game.