EC overcomes deficit, defeats Brookwood

Photos by Paula Stubbs 

Addie Joiner had an RBI single in the top of the fifth inning of the 4-3 win.

COLUMBUS-The East Coweta Lady Indians overcame a 2-0 deficit Thursday to defeat the Brookwood Lady Broncos 4-3 in a winners bracket game of the 7A Elite Eight Tournament at the South Commons Complex.

The win improved the Lady Indians' record as they advance to the next round to face the Buford Lady Wolves in a Friday rematch of the 2022 finalists at 5:00.

Buford advanced after a 12-4 win over Mill Creek in another winners bracket game.

Brookwood fell to 24-6-1 and will face either Lowndes or North Paulding who met in a losers bracket game on Thursday evening.

The Lady Broncos took the initial lead with a pair of home runs in the bottom of the first inning but only recorded one hit in the remainder of the game against Jada Savage.

The Lady Indians began their comeback in the top of the third inning as Maggie Stubbs reached on a bunt single, stole second before coming home when Madison Duffel lined a double to left field.

In the top of the fourth inning, the Lady Indians looked to take the lead as Mallory Lumpkins and Savage reached on consecutive one out singles.

Lumpkins was 2-for-4 in the game for the Lady Indians.

Riley Ratzlaff had a game tying double in the
top of the fourth inning.

A double by Riley Ratzlaff followed as Lumpkins came home while a sacrifice fly to left by Stubbs allowed courtesy runner Sophia Santiago to score from third base with the go ahead run.

Stubbs was 2-for-2 in the game and is 4-for-5 in the tournament with two runs scored and a pair of RBIs.

The Lady Indians added to the lead in the top of the fifth inning as Duffel reached on a single and scored on a two out single to left field by Addie Joiner.

Duffel was 3-for-4 at the plate and in the the first two games of the tournament is 7-for-8 with four runs scored and three RBIs.

The run became important as the Lady Broncos scored an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth inning on a wild pitch but were unable to solve Savage as she retired eight of the last nine batters in the game.

Savage, who recorded her 400th varsity strikeout in the 8-0 win over North Gwinnett on Wednesday, ended the game by recording her 10th of the evening. 

NOTES: The victory over North Gwinnett on Wednesday marked the ninth time in 10 years that East Coweta has won at least 30 games.

In 2020, the Lady Indians were 27-3 when they won the state title.