ECJV overcome early deficits to achieve doubleheadr sweep

All photos courtesy of Paula Stubbs

Sophia Vaccariello gets a congratulations from head coach Kyle Bowman as she rounds third after hitting a grand slam in the top of the second inning of game two that gave the Lady Indians a lead.

 
CARROLLTON-The junior varsity doubleheader played Monday between the East Coweta Lady Indians and the Central (Carrollton) Lady Lions had similar starts.

The Lady Lions were spotted 4-0 leads before the Lady Indians rallied to win game one 8-6 and gain the sweep after a 14-8 win in the nightcap.

The Lady Lions opened the game by scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning and took the 4-0 lead into the top of the third inning.

The top of the third began with Maddie Linden reaching on a line drive single to left field and Sydney Stubbs reaching on a bunt.

Both runners advanced when Payton Wilson grounded out and after winning pitcher McKenna Holmes reached on a walk that loaded the bases.

Hayden Chaffin battles the screen on the Lady
Lions dugout to catch a foul pop in game one

Sophia Vaccariello reached on an infield error that allowed EC to get on the board as Lindon crossed home plate and a bases loaded walk to Hayden Chaffin scored Stubbs from third to cut the deficit to 4-2.

After a force play, Vaccariello came home as a throw from the infield was late and Chaffin came home with the tying run due to confusion in the Central infield.

The Lady Lions scored twice in the bottom of the fourth inning to reclaim the lead but the 6-4 advantage was short lived as the Lady Indians scored four runs in the top of the fifth inning.

Stubbs opened the frame with a walk and Wilson followed with a line drive single to left field.

Holmes advanced both runners on a sacrifice bunt and Vaccariello

McKenna Holmes is in position to catch the popup
that ended game one of the doubleheader.

followed with a double to right field that scored Stubbs while Wilson took third.

The Lady Indians tied the game at 6-6 when Chaffin singled to center to bring Wilson home while Vaccariello advanced to third.

A groundout by Addy Howell gave EC a 7-6 lead and Callie Flury's second RBI of the game provided them with an insurance run as her single to right center field brought Chaffin plateward.

Holmes retired the first two batters in the bottom of the inning, but the Lady Lions tried to rally as a single and a walk put the tying run on base.

However, Holmes induced a popup and the game came to an end.

Holmes allowed five hits in the win and recorded seven strikeouts.

Kayden Ulrich pitched a complete
game in the second contest of the 
doubkeheader.

Game two had the same scenario as the opener with Central taking a 4-0 after the first inning, the similarities ended there as EC made two-out magic account for a eight-run second inning.

In between two strikeouts, Izzy Kelleher and Lindon reached on walks while Kylee Rozier reached on an infield error to load the bases.

An infield error scored Kelleher for the first run of the frame and Wilson followed with an RBI single that cut the margin to 4-2.

Flury reached on a walk that scored Lindon and the deficit was 4-3 and brought Vaccariello to the plate.

Vaccariello gave EC a 7-4 lead as she drilled a 1-1 offering over the left field fence for a grand slam that gave her team the lead that never was relinquished.

Howell followed the grand slam with an infield single and scored on a double by Summer Wilson to complete the frame.

The Lady Lions scored a run in the bottom of the second inning to cut the score to 8-5, but the Lady Indians answered with two runs in the top of the third to take a 10-5 lead.

Lindon lined a single to center field to open the frame and scored on a two out double by Keyleigh Gardner who later scored on a single by Payton Wilson.

The Lady Lions came back with a run in the bottom of the third and two in the fourth, but the Lady Indians answered in the top of the fifth with four runs for the final margin.

Rozier and Catherine Maxwell reached on singles while Gardner was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

A bases loaded walk to Flury scored Rozier while Maxwell came home on a wild pitch while singles by Vaccariello and Howell had RBI singles to end the scoring.

Vaccariello was 3-for-7 in the doubleheader, scoring three runs and seven RBIs.

Howell was 2-for-4 in game two with an RBI while Gardner reached base three times and had the hatrick in runs scored for the game.

Kayden Ulrich overcame the struggles of the first inning to thwart any subsequent rallies by the Lady Lions and gain a complete game win.

The Lady Indians are now 14-0-1 on the season and will have a doubleheader rematch next Monday in Sharpsburg.