Lady Indians open 2018 season with three wins, streak at 39 after win over Lady Wildcats

Aniston Wright was the winning pitcher Monday in the
Lady Indians 4-3 win over Locust Grove. Wright pitched
five and two-third innings.

SHARPSBURG-To date, the 2018 season has not been easy for the East Coweta Lady Indians as they begin the trek toward defending their state championship.
The season opened Friday night in Marietta needing a three-run home run by Kelley Lynch in the top of the seventh inning to give EC a 6-5 win over the Hillgrove Lady Hawks in the opener before getting a five hitter from Jaliyah Holmes to come away with a 6-1 victory over the Lassiter Lady Trojans.
Monday night's game against the Locust Grove Wildcats was not any easier for the East Coweta Lady Indians as the latter defeated the defending 5A champions 4-3 in a battle of champions.
With the win, the Lady Indians are 3-0 and have a 39-game streak as they will host the Alexander Lady Cougars Wednesday evening in the first game of the Georgia Dugout Club Tournament.
In the Monday night win, the Lady Wildcats took an early 1-0 lead as Taegan Lewellen drilled an offering from winning pitcher Aniston Wright over the left field fence for a solo home run with two outs in the top of the first inning.
However, the Lady Indians came back in the bottom of the frame as Lilly Agan singled, advanced to second on a sacrifice by Carmen Prior and took third on a passed ball before scoring the tying run on a bases loaded single by Kenadie Cooper.
The Lady Indians scored the go ahead run as Lynch scored when the Lady Wildcats shortstop dropped a ground ball as she attempted to tag a baserunner.
An insurance run gave the Lady Indians a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning as Prior reached on a two out single, stole second and came home on an infield error as Lynch collided with second baseman Kyndal Brown.
The play came at a cost for Locust Grove as Brown came out of the game with a broken arm.
The Lady Wildcats cut the margin to 3-2 with two outs in the top of the fourth inning as Layla Barren scored on an unearned run on a single by Chandler Mitchell.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, EC got the run back as Caroline Lively singled, Olivia Cook hit a sacrifice bunt that resulted in an error and after Agan sacrifice courtesy runner Katie Taylor and Cook, Prior hit a ground ball to second that allowed Taylor to score.
The Lady Wildcats were not done as they cut the margin to a single run as Mitchell scored on a two out single by Kelly Kight.

Jaliyah Holmes recorded saves against Hillgrove and
Locust Grove while tossing a complete game against
Lassiter in the first three games of the season for East Coweta.

Kight's single prompted a pitching change for the Lady Indians as Wright was replaced by Holmes who ended the frame on one pitch as Bailee Richardson hit an infield pop.
In the top of the seventh inning, Holmes allowed a leadoff double to Skylar Elkins who stole third but the young hurler breezed through the rest of the frame by inducing an infield pop and a pair of strikeouts to end the game and record the save.
EC 6, Hillgrove 5
In Monday’s first game, Hillgrove scored the first run with two outs in the first inning, but EC responded in the top of the second inning as Ansley Gunter was hit by a pitch and eventually scored courtesy a pair of errors.
The Lady Indians took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third on a solo home run over the center field fence by Kenadie Cooper but the Lady Hawks took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning on a pair of RBI singles.
Hillgrove added to their lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on a two-run double but EC made their comeback in the top of the seventh.
With one out, Cooper reached on a walk and Agan reached on an infield error before Prior followed with a double to center field that brought Cooper home to cut the margin to 5-3 and Lynch followed with her heroic clout with a shot over the center field fence.
Kylie Ferguson, who took over for Wright in the sixth, struggled in the bottom of the frame as the first two batters reached base but enter Holmes who came into the game and retired the next three batters for the save.
EC 6, Lassiter 1
EC trailed 1-0 in the bottom of the third as the Lady Trojans scored an unearned run but the Lady Indians rallied in the top of the fifth inning with a pair of runs to take the lead.
Madison Lecuona walked and moved to second on a sacrifice by Taylor before scoring on a double Agan who scored the lead run on the front end of a double steal.
The Lady Trojans loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning on an intentional walk and infield single, but Holmes was unfazed as she induced a flyball to left field in which Taylor caught the ball and ran into the wall afterward.
The out began a string in which Holmes retired seven of eight batters over the balance of the game.
The Lady Indians gave Holmes a larger cushion in the top of the sixth inning as they were the recipients of an infield error, four walks and a hit batter that amounted to four runs in the frame.