ECJV sweeps in Heard County Tournament

East Coweta pitcher Camryn Horton was the winning
pitcher in the Lady Indians' 5-2 win over Heard County
in the Lady Braves junior varsity tournament.
Photo by Stuart Crosby

FRANKLIN-The junior varsity version of the East Coweta Lady Indians had to brave the heat and several teams to come away with a three-game sweep in the Lady Braves Invitational at Heard County High School.

In the first game, the Lady Indians spotted the home team a run in the bottom of the first inning before scoring in the fourth to come away with a 5-2 win over the Heard County Lady Braves.

The Lady Indians defeated the Harris County Lady Tigers 3-2 as Avery Batten had a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning and McKenna Holmes scattered seven hits over five innings in an 8-0 shutout over the Villa Rica Lady Wildcats.

The record stands at 9-1 for the Lady Indians who will travel to Zebulon to face the Pike County Pirates in the first of four games scheduled during the week.

After the Lady Braves scored a run in the bottom of the first in the opener, the Lady Indians tried to answer in the top of the second inning as they loaded the bases with one out.

However, an infield fly and a strikeout ended the frame and the scoring opportunity.

The Lady Indians had another opportunity and made it pay off as they scored all of their runs in the contest.

Winning pitcher Camryn Horton led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on a throwing error.
With Kate Miller reaching first on the error and Gaby Gopie at the plate, the Lady Braves' pitcher threw a wild pitch and both runners advanced a base.
Gopie walked to load the bases for Jenna Helmly who hit a two run single to give the Lady Indians a 2-1 lead.
A walk to Hayden Chaffin reloaded the bases and three wild pitches followed with three runs and a 5-1 EC lead.
Horton ran into trouble in the bottom of the fourth as Heard mounted a comeback but the latter scored one run as the inning and the game ended. She allowed three hits and recorded four strikeouts.

Baylor Mikell reaches high at first base to receive
a throw in one of the three games played.
Photo by Paula Stubbs

After a productive lunch break, the Lady Indians surrendered a pair of runs in the top of the second inning and it appeared the Lady Tigers had the game in hand as EC batters had trouble at the plate.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Indians rallied as Maddie Linden reached on an error and moved to second on a bunt single by Kate Walker.

With one out, Helmly drilled a flyball to deep center field allowing Linden to come home with a run and Miller to waltz into third with the tying run.

With the tying and winning runs at the plate, Batten overcame an 0-2 count and drilled a ground ball to right field allowing Helmly to race home with the winning run.

Natalie Thompson started the game for EC and allowed four hits in five innings and recorded eight strikeouts.

Rylee Gordy pitched a flawless sixth inning with strikeout and was the winning.   

McKenna Holmes was the winning 
pitcher in the Lady Indians' 8-0 win
over Villa Rica. Photo by Paula Stubbs

The nightcap belonged to Holmes in the circle and a hitting attack that started in the first inning as Walker was hit by a pitch, stole second, advanced to third on a fielding error and scored when Helmly grounded out to third.

The Lady Indians added a run in the bottom of the second inning as Baylor Mikell opened with a walk and eventually scored from third on a sacrifice fly by Addy Howell.

 In the bottom of the third inning, all doubt was erased as EC scored six runs to put the game in cruise control.

Hailee Vance doubled and moved to third on a single by Brooklynn Fisher before coming home when Miller was retired on a close groundout.

Gopie followed with an RBI single and after Helmly hammered a double, Batten drilled a single that scored courtesy runner Sydney Stubbs and Helmly to widen the lead.

Batten came home on a double by Mikell who scored the final run of the game when Howell grounded out to second.

The 8-0 margin was more than enough for Holmes who had very little trouble in the final two innings.

Howell and Batten each had two RBIs in the game while Mikell scored two runs.

In the tournament Helmly was 4-for-6 with four RBIs, Batten had four RBIs and Walker scored three runs.