EC hosting Peachtree Ridge in first round of state playoffs, looks to win title and beat everybody

Photos courtesy of Barbara Lecuona

Deangelo Sanchez-EC softball
cheerleader

During the 28 game regular season, the main goal of the East Coweta Lady Indians has been to go to Columbus and return on I-185 North with a state championship as a passenger.
However, one mantra along the way for Lady Indians was #BeatEverybody as inspired by Deangelo Snachez.

Sanchez is the brother of former EC shortstop Shemiah Sanchez who is now manning the hot corner for the LSU Lady Tigers.

Early in the year, Sanchez went from being a cheerleader for the Lady Tigers during their run to the College World Series to the big cheerleader during the run of the Lady Indians.

Sanchez will now take his cheerleading skills into the AAAAAAA state playoffs as the Lady Indians host the Peachtree Ridge Lady Lions in a best of three series that will begin Thursday at 4:00.
A second game will follow and a third game (if necessary) will be played Saturday morning at 11:00 with the series advancing to the second round against either Hillgrove or Cherokee on October 18.

As for the Lady Indians’ most vociferous cheerleader will attend the series or not, Sanchez has indicated through Facebook of his intentions to not only be in attendance but in full voice for the first round and is working toward attending round two.

He is also ready to lead the chant that has made him famous among EC followers.

Beat Everybody!
Sanchez and the Lady Indian faithful will see two clubs that are opposite in a number of ways including how they arrived to this matchup.

MEETING OF THE MINDS. The East Coweta infield of (Left to right) Ashlynn Gunter, Olivia Davis, Madison Lecuona and Rachel Vaughan are having a meeting on the pitching rubber with pitcher Kelley Lynch during the recent Region 2-AAAAAAA Tournament   

The Lady Indians enter the series having beat everybody as Sanchez requested with a 28-0 mark after winning the Region 2-AAAAAAA Tournament last week with a 12-0 win over Campbell and wins over Newnan by scores of 6-0 and 3-0.

After finishing under .500 in three of the last four seasons, the Lady Lions come into the series with a record of 12-10 after finishing fifth in the Region 6-AAAAAAA Tournament.

Due to a four school membership in Region 1, an at large team and by virtue of a mathematical formula that would have made Albert Einstein, Galileo and several other intellects proud.

Under head coach Duane “Bubba” Wilson, Peachtree Ridge is currently ranked 144th by MaxPreps in the nation, 51st in Georgia and is 16th in the 7A classification.

Among the key players for Peachtree Ridge are junior infielder Aleix Hudson who is hitting..439 and hit a three-run homer in a 6-5 win over Mountain View on September 19 and junior center fielder Felise Collins who is hitting .344 and had a solo home run on September 15 against Collins Hill.

As for who the Lady Indians’ bats will face, junior hurler Jenna White comes in with seven wins and a 3.20 ERA while freshman Ellie Lunsford has two wins with a 3.28 ERA.

Among the common opponents, the Lady Lions dropped a 7-2 contest to Lambert on August 11 (a team EC defeated 4-1 on September 1 at Home Plate) and two games to defending state champion North Gwinnett by scores of 7-0 on September 6 and 15-1 on September 21.

The Lady Indians defeated the Lady Bulldogs the next evening in a tough 7-3 decision at Suwanee.
Like a number of teams forced to play tough opponents, the Lady Lions have also faced their share of teams that are still playing as well in North Gwinnett, Mill Creek, Collins Hill, ELCA and Jefferson this season.

Big plays help, hurt EC in loss to Westlake

SHARPSBURG-This season, the East Coweta Indians have managed to make the big play part of arsenal that has resulted in four straight wins.
While they had several Friday night at Garland Shoemake Stadium, they were also victimized by the big play as they were defeated by the Westlake Lions 14-12.
The Region 2-AAAAAAA loss dropped the Indians' overall mark to 4-2 and 0-1 in the region while the Lions improved to  3-3 overall, 1-0 in region play.
In the opening series of the game, the Indians had the ball at their own 35 yard line when Juan Calipolitti raced 25 yards into Lions territory at their 40.
Meanwhile, Gerald Green had a pair of runs for more than 10 yards including scoring on an 18-yard run with 9:36 remaining in the first quarter and the lead was 6-0 after a missed extra point attempt.
Westlake quarterback Caleb Dixon utilized the big play on the ensuing drive as he connected on a 23-yard pass to Amir Spivey and a 27-yard toss to Marckus Johnson that resulted in a touchdown with 4:46 remaining and the Lions took a 7-6 lead after converting the extra point.
Christian Reid answered his counterpart in the second quarter as the EC quarterback hit Dantarius Chunn with a 26-yard pass during a series that stalled and a 50-yard pass on first down to Brayden Carey that resulted in a touchdown with 1:22 remaining in the half.
The score gave EC a 12-7 lead that stood at halftime as they failed to convert on a two-point conversion attempt.
The big play went away for most of the second half as the game became on of field position as each defense was making big stops including one by the Lions in which a Reed pass was intercepted at the Wetlake 42 and returned it to the EC 37 with 5:14 remaining in the third quarter.
However, the Lions were unable to take advantage as the Indians had a big play with Clay Patterson introducing himself to Dixon for an eight yard sack with 5:14 remaining in the quarter.
The big play would haunt the Indians in the fourth quarter as they failed to convert a fourth-and-inches play at their own 39 with 9:31 remaining which allowed the Lions to take over.
The Lions were able to take advantage with a big play of their own as Dixon found an open Jalen Tillman for a 36-yard pass that led to a touchdown with 8:39 remaining in the game and the Lions enjoyed a 14-12 lead after the extra point attempt was successful.
The Indians tried to comeback on the ensuing drive but were stalled at the Lions 47 with a fourth-and-one with 5:18 remaining but elected to punt.
This became a big play as the Lions ran the majority of the time remaining on the clock.
Reid was 8-for-10 with an interception for 152 yards and a touchdown while Green led the way running the ball with 117 yards on 17 carries.
The Indians will be on the road next week when they travel to Smyrna for a game against Wheeler who lost to Newnan 45-20 Friday night at Drake Stadium.
 

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Lynch homers and tosses one-hitter in EC win over Newnan in Region tourney on her birthday

SHARPSBURG-The Newnan Lady Cougars had hopes of coming out of the losers bracket and winning the 2017 Region 2-AAAAAAA Tournament against their rival the East Coweta Lady Indians.

In the first game, the Lady Cougars achieved the feat as they broke open a close game with an 11 run fourth inning to defeat the Campbell Lady Spartans 14-1 in a game called after four and one-half innings.

The loss dropped Campbell to 8-19 on the season as they will travel to Kingsland to face The Camden County Lady Wildcats in the first round of the state playoffs next Friday as the region's third seed.

Next was the matchup that fans came to see and they weren't disappointed as Kelley Lynch of East Coweta celebrated her 17th birthday by outdueling Newnan pitcher Addie Andrews 3-0 in a championship game that ended in an unusual way.

The Lady Indians improved to 28-0 on the season have guaranteed home field for the state playoffs which will begin next Friday against an at large team.

The Lady Cougars fell to 22-4 with the loss and they will host a playoff series next Friday also against the Colquitt County Lady Packers.

Lynch started the game in a minor jam after retiring the first batter as Alex Williams reached on a walk and Lindsay Bloom single to give the Lady Cougars at getting on the scoreboard first.

However, Lynch didn't panic as she retired Ansley Houston on a flyball to Hanna Miller in Left field and ended the inning with the first of 15 strikeouts.

In the bottom of the first inning, the Lady Indians threatened to get to Andrews early as Lilly Agan led off with a single and Olivia Davis followed with a single of her own.

However, Agan tried to advance to third on the play but Houston beat her to the third base bag and tagged her out.

Davis followed by trying to steal second but the umpires ruled that she left first early and called her out which set the stage for Lynch.
On a 2-1 offering from Andrews, Lynch delivered as she lined a shot over the center field fence for a solo home run and a 1-0 EC lead.
After a normal three strikeout inning by Lynch to retire the side in order in the top of the second, the Lady Indians added to the lead in the bottom of the frame as Rachel Vaughan led off with a single and Ansley Gunter followed by pulling Andrews’ 1-2 offering over the fence in Left fence for a two-run home run and a 3-0 lead.
That would conclude the offensive part of the game as Lynch was retiring batters via the strikeout route while Andrews was using a varying amounts of ways to keep the Lady Indians at bay.
The Lady Indians had a chance to add to the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning as Vaughan doubled and Ansley Gunter followed with a walk.
However, Andrews did not allow any further damage as she retired the next three batters to strand the twosome and go to the seventh inning.
After retiring 17 batters in a row, Lynch saw that streak end as Bloom reached on a walk and Houston reached on a throwing error that put both into scoring and brought Gracie Goodwin to the plate as the tying run.
Goodwin, who came into the game for an injured Danielle Curlee, was unable to solve Lynch as she went down on a strikeout for the first out.
Lynch retired Darby Keene on a pop to Davis at shortstop for the second out with Andrews coming to the plate representing the tying run.
With an 0-2 count, the Lady Cougar hurler was denied her chance to dent the scoreboard as Lynch threw to Ashlynn Gunter at third who threw to Caroline Lively at the plate to tag Bloom for the final out and give the Lady Indians the title.

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.

EC and Newnan meet second round of region tournament after convincing victories

File Photo courtesy of Barbara Lecuona

SHARPSBURG-The Coweta version of the Hatfields and McCoys will do battle Wednesday evening on the softball field in the second round of the Region 2-AAAAAAA Tournament after doing away with their opponents in quick fashion Tuesday night.

The East Coweta Lady Indians improved to

26-0 on the season as Aniston Wright allowed one hit and recorded seven strikeouts in four innings and was 3-for-3 at the plate with three RBIs to lead the way ib a 12-0 win over the Campbell Lady Spartans.

Meanwhile, the Newnan Lady Cougars won their 21st game of the season with a 10-1 five inning win over the Westlake Lady Lions as Hailey Bloom and Ansley Houston each were 2-for-3 with three RBIs while Addie Andrews allowed one hit over five innings and recorded 11 strikeout to lead the way for the Lady Cougars.

The two teams will meet at 6:30 while Westlake (7-9) and Campbell (7-18) will meet in the losers bracket game at 4:30

Aniston Wright allowed one hit and recorded seven strikeouts
in the 12-0 win. She was also 3-for-3 at the plate with three
RBIs.

The loser of that game will be the region's fourth seed in the upcoming state playoffs. 

In the Lady Indians' win, EC took the lead in the bottom of the first inning as Olivia Davis reached on a single, stole second and scored on a single by Kelley Lynch.

Lynch was erased at second on a force play that allowed Ashlynn Gunter to reach first and steal second before scoring on single by Rachel Vaughan.

In the bottom of the second inning, the Lady Indians added to the lead as Wright led off with a single and courtesy runner Kenadie Cooper stealing second before scoring from third on a groundout by Lilly Agan.

The Lady Indians took a bigger lead in the bottom of the third inning with six runs in the frame to assume a 9-0 lead.

Ashlynn Gunter and Vaughan led off with back-to-back doubles for a run and after a flyball to center field, Hanna Miller reached on a walk and Wright aided her own cause with a two run double that went in between the left and center fielders.

Prior single and Agan followed with a two run double of her own and a run as Lynch joined the double parade.

Meanwhile, Wright had sailed through the first three frames but would have a little problem in the top of the fourth as she allowed a double and had another baserunner in the frame through an error but managed to leave them stranded as she induced a ground ball Olivia Cook fielded at third and threw a strike across the diamond.

The bottom of the fourth inning was bench clearing time as reserves were sent into the game with Cooper reaching first after being hit by a pitch to open the frame.

After a strikeout, Kylie Ferguson reached on a single and Wright added to her cause again with a run scoring single.

Caison Byars reached on an infield error that allowed Ferguson to score and a double by Krys Odum allowed courtesy runner Macie Wiggins to come home with the final run of the game.

In the Newnan victory, Westlake took a lead in the top of the first inning as Marissa Holmes had an RBI double but the Newnan came back in the bottom of the frame with four runs.

Kaylen Madrey led off by reaching on an infield error and advancing after a single by Alex Williams.

A double by Hailey Bloom scored Madrey while a single by Ansley Houston scored Williams and Bloom to give the Lady Cougars a 3-0 lead.

The final run of the frame came with Andrews aiding her own cause with a one out triple.

The Lady Cougars added to the lead in the bottom of the second inning with three runs as Paige De Poi led off with a single and Marleigh Williamson reached on an infield error.

After a strikeout and a fielder’s choice, Bloom had two-run triple and Houston had an RBI single to give Andrews a 7-0 lead to protect.

Andrews retired the first two batters in the top of the third inning but surrendered a pair of walks before ending the frame on a ground ball back to the pitching rubber.

Newnan added to the lead in the bottom of the third inning as Andrews reached on an infield error and as Reagan London’s single was misplayed in the outfield, courtesy runner Jenna Lyons was able to score.

The Lady Cougars reached the mercy rule in the bottom of the fourth as Madrey singled and Williams reached on an infield error.

A double steal resulted in one run as Madrey came home from third while an infield error allowed Williams to score the final run of the game as Andrews reached on an infield error.

Andrews didn’t have any trouble in the top of the fifth as she retired the side in order with three strikeouts.

Streamcity to carry remainder of tournament

The remainder of the Region 2-AAAAAAA Tournament will be broadcast over streamcity.org beginning Wednesday with the Westlake-Campbell game at 4:30 followed by the East Coweta-Newnan game beginning at 6:30.

The Thursday games will also be on the air through the internet radio station as well.

Listeners need to click to the site and click the appropriate button.

Gunters lead EC to 25th win in varsity game, JV finishes 2017 undefeated

Photo courtesy of Barbara Lecuona

SHARPSBURG-The Gunter sisters were hitting again Thursday night as they combined to go 6-for-8 at the plate with three runs scored and five RBIs to lead the East Coweta Lady Indians to a 10-2 six inning win over the Northgate Lady Vikings to go 25-0 on the season.

They will open the Region 2-AAAAAAA Tournament on Tuesday with a first round matchup with the Campbell Lady Spartans beginning at 6:30.

Ashlynn and Ansley Gunter appear to be plotting on their
next at bats. The sisters combined for six hits, three runs
and five RBIs in the 10-2 win over Northgate to go 25-0 on the
season.

The Lady Indians took the lead in the bottom of the first inning as they scored a pair of runs as Lilly Agan reached on an infield error and Olivia Davis followed with a double before Kelley Lynch hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Agan and moved Davis to third.

Davis scored the second run of the frame on a single by Ashlynn Gunter.

Three more runs in the bottom of the second gave EC a 5-0 lead as Carmen Prior reached on a single, stole second and moved to third on a throwing error.

Agan reached on an infield single and with one out Lynch had her second consecutive sacrifice fly to but this time to left field and scoring Prior from third.

Ashlynn Gunter singled Agan home, stole second and came home on a single by Rachel Vaughan.

Meanwhile, Vaughan pitched the first two innings with few problems but would struggle some in the top of the third.

Lady Viking starting pitcher Alissa Bollinger reached on an infield error and Charla Echols followed by hitting a two-run shot to left that cut the margin to 5-2.

However, EC reclaimed one of the runs in the bottom of the frame as Aniston Wright reached on an infield error and after two outs came home as a single by Agan was misplayed.

Vaughan was pitching in a groove after the Echols home run as she retired nine consecutive batters before Natalie Heath reached after being hit by a pitch.

In six innings, the senior lefty allowed three hits, walked a batter and hit two while recording five strikeouts.

The Lady Indians were able to put the game away in the bottom of the sixth as Vaughan reached on a leadoff single and Ansley Gunter followed by drilling a shot over center field fence to send the faithful home happy.

JUNIOR VARSITY: EC 7, NORTHGATE 3

While the varsity still has games to play, the junior varsity version of the Lady Indians completed their season with a 16-0-1 record after a 7-3 victory.

The game was scoreless in the first two innings when the Lady Vikings scored first in the top of the third as Madison Edwards singled and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt before advancing to third on a wild pitch and scoring on an errant throw on the play.

The Lady Indians came back with a pair in the bottom of the frame as Kenadie Cooper was hit by a pitch, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch as Olivia Cook reached on a walk.

Cook and Cooper scored after the second out of the inning when Ashleigh Griffin singled to right center field.

The big inning for EC was the bottom of the fourth when they scored four runs to take a 6-1 lead.

Madison Lecuona reached on a triple and after Jaliyah Holmes reached on a walk and stole second, starting pitcher Kylie Ferguson hit a single that brought Lecuona home.

Holmes scored on a misplayed sacrifice fly with Ferguson scoring behind her as Katie Taylor reached base on the miscue.

Northgate came back in the top of the fifth with a pair of runs as April Jernigan walked and eventually scored on a single by Madison Lumpp who eventually came home on a sacrifice fly by starting pitcher Olivia Cato.

The Lady Indians scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning as Lecuona scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Taylor.

On the pitching rubber, Ferguson allowed five hits and recorded one strikeout while at the plate, Lecuona had three hits to lead the way.

Lynch sets season high pitching mark with 17Ks, has two RBIs at plate in win over UG

File photo courtesy of Barbara Lecuona

SHARPSBURG-Kelley Lynch took a no-hitter into the top of the sixth inning but had to settle for a two-hitter while recording a season high 17 strikeouts Wednesday night as the East Coweta Lady Indians defeated the Union Grove Lady Wolverines 6-0.

THERE SHE GOES AGAIN:  Kelley Lynch had two run scoring hits
and allowed two hits while recording a season high 17 strikeouts
in the 6-0 shutout win over Union Grove.

The non-region game at home improved the overall mark to 24-0 as the Lady Prepare to host the Northgate Lady Vikings in a Thursday night matchup at 6:00.

The Lady Indians assumed the lead early as they scored twice in the bottom of the first inning as Olivia Davis singled and scored on a double by Lynch while a two out single by Rachel Vaughan accounted for the other run as courtesy runner Kenadie Cooper touched home.

The Lady Indians added to the lead in the bottom of the third with a pair of runs as Ashlynn Gunter singled and scored on a throwing error that went onto right field and allowed Vaughan to reach base on a sacrifice bunt attempt.

Vaughan scored the other run on double to left center by Ansley Gunter who had a two hit outing at the plate.

The final two runs of the game came in the bottom of the sixth as Carmen Prior and Lilly Agan singled and Davis followed with a sacrifice bunt that moved each one base.

Prior, who finished 2-for-3 at the plate, came home on a single by Lynch who was 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs while Agan who also had two hits came home due to an error in outfield.

Meanwhile, Lynch continued to dominate on the pitching rubber as she has done in three varsity seasons.

After an infield pop to Davis at shortstop to open the contest, Lynch proceeded to retire eight of the next 10 batters via strikeout with a hit batter, a walk and a flyball to center fielder Lilly Agan placed in that streak.

After a flyball to Agan in the top of the fourth inning, the remaining nine batters were surgically retired by a strikeout.

Lynch, who combined with Aniston Wright last Friday for a no-hitter in a 7-0 over West Laurens, threatened to record another as she retired the first batter in the top of the sixth.

However, another no-hitter was not meant to be as Emily Coltharp spoiled the evening with a single to left field.

In the top of the seventh, Camden Steele opened the frame with a double but that was a cloae as the Lady Wolverines came to a threat as Lynch retired the next three batters to end the game.

JUNIOR VARSITY: EC 9 UG 6

Regardless of sport, wins don’t have to look pretty and that was the case in the junior varsity game as the East Coweta Lady Indians were 9-6 winners over the Union Grove Lady Wolverines.

The victory improved the record to 15-0-1 as they will host the Northgate Lady Vikings Thursday at 4:30.

Facing an inexperienced pitcher, eight of the Lady Indians reached via walks in the bottom of the first while an error, a hit batter and a single by Madison Lecuona were thrown into a mix that saw seven runs cross home plate.

The Lady Indians added two runs in the bottom of the third as Ansley Duffey reached on an infield errot and with one out Macie Wiggins reached on a single.

Walks to Lecuona and Jaliyah Holmes scored Duffey from third while a sacrifice fly to by Kyle Fergison accounted for the other.

The 9-0 looked solid until the top of the third inning when the Lady Wolverines rallied for all six of their runs.

Kristin Gurley had a one out two run double and Emilee Robinson followed with a run scoring double that cut the margin to 9-3.

An error and a pair of run scoring singles cut the margin to 9-6 before reliever Ferguson was able to get the third out.