Warren, Carter, pitching lead to EC shutout over Pike County

HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL

Lindsay Warren and Madison Carter had two hits and scored a run while Rachel Vaughn and Morgan Goree combined on a three-hitter as the East Coweta Lady Indians shutout the Pike County Lady Pirates 5-0 Monday in a non-region softball game played in Sharpsburg.

The win was the third in a row for the Lady Indians who improved to 15-2 while the Lady Pirates fell to 12-8.
The game was a scoreless duel between Vaughn and Goree of EC and Jenna Little of Pike County until the bottom of the fourth inning when EC scored a pair of runs to take the lead.
Carter opened the frame by reaching on a bunt single, stole second and moved to third on a single by Katey Lynch and came home on a single to left by Hailey Baswell.
After Lynch and courtesy runner Olivia Davis advanced to base on a sacrifice by Lauren Liebe, Vaughn followed by grounding out to second base allowing Lynch to come home with the second run of the inning.
The Lady Indians added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning as Ashlyn Gunter led off with a walk and advanced to second on a single by Warren before moving to third on an errant throw into the infield.
Meanwhile, Warren stole second base ahead of a single by Shemiah Sanchez that scored Gunter before taking home on a throwing error.
The final run of the game came in the bottom of the sixth inning as Liebe reached on a leadoff single and pinch-runner Shyenne Bell moved on a sacrifice by Vaughn before coming home on Warren's two-out double to left field.
That was enough for Goree who retired the side in order to seal the win for the Lady Indians.
Meanwhile, EC was looking for a sweep as the junior varsity game between the two schools followed but the game was called off in the top of the second inning as several lightning strikes were seen nearby.
Next for the Lady Indians will be a key Region 3-AAAAAA contest at home against the Newnan Lady Cougars..

 

Williamson single keys victory for Newnan over EC

Marley Williamson hit a two-run single with two outs in the top of the sixth inning to give the Newnan Lady Cougars a 4-3 come-from-behind victory Monday over the East Coweta Lady Indians in Junior Varsity softball game played in Sharpsburg.

The victory improves the Newnan record to 8-1 while EC fell to 8-2-2 on the season.

The Lady Cougars trailed 3-1 going into the frame when Darby Keene reached on an infield error and Breanna Houston reached base on a walk giving Newnan a chance to rally.

However, EC starter Kelley Lynch appeared to be getting out of trouble and ending the game for the Lady Indians as she recorded a strikeout and managed to induce a force play.

The Lady Cougars continued to fight as Hailey Wagner reached on an infield error that allowed Houston to come home and cut the margin to 3-2 with Williamson coming to the plate.

Williamson came through for the Lady Cougars as she lined an 0-1 offering from Lynch into right center field to bring Danielle Curlee and Hailey Wagner home with the lead runs.

Addie Andrews finished what was a quality start for the Lady Cougars as she had little trouble in the bottom of the inning retiring three of the four batters she faced.

In six innings on the pitching rubber for the Lady Cougars, Andrews scattered six hits, allowing three runs and recording three strikeouts.

The Lady Indians took the early lead in the game as Shyenne Bell drilled an offering from Andrews over the left field fence in the bottom of the first inning and added to the lead in the bottom of the second inning as Brittany Ebert scored on an infield single by Olivia Davis with two outs in the frame.

The 2-0 margin seemed to be enough for Lynch who fired a no-hitter against Whitewater last Wednesday and was flirting with another as she held the Lady Cougars hitless retiring 10 of the first twelve batters she faced with all going down by strikeout and the only batters to reached were by walks.

In the top of the fourth inning, Lynch ran into trouble as she surrendered a one out walk to Allison Cobb and Keene ended the no-hitter with a single to left field and the chance for a shutout ended as Cobb scored on an infield error.

In six innings on the rubber for the Lady Indians, Lynch had another strong start allowing three hits, four walks and 16 strikeouts.

The Lady Indians got the run back in the bottom of the fifth inning as Bell reached on a leadoff single, stole second and reached third when Ebert singled before coming home when A.J. Estrada hit a sacrifice fly to center field.

Bell and Ebert were the leading hitters for the day for East Coweta as both had two hits while Williamson reached base three times and Wagner twice for Newnan.

Both JV squads will play games on Wednesday as part of JV/Varisty doubleheaders as Newnan will face Northgate while EC will host Heard County.

Lynch fires a no-hitter as EC takes care of Whitewater in Junior Varsity game

 
The East Coweta Lady Indians scored seven runs in the bottom of the fourth inning Wednesday afternoon to support a no-hitter by pitcher Kelley Lynch as they defeated the Whitewater Lady Wildcats 10-1 in a Junior Varsity softball game played in Sharpsburg.
The five-inning win improved the Lady Indians record to 8-1-2 as they prepare to host the Newnan Lady Cougars in Monday afternoon affair scheduled to begin at 4:30.
East Coweta took the lead in the bottom of the first inning as Lynch reached on a one out walk and Shyenne Bell followed with triple to right field that brought home courtesy runner Carmen Prior with the first run of the game.
Bell gave the Lady Indians a 2-0 lead when she scored on a groundout to the pitcher by Jessica Barber.
Lynch struggled at the beginning of the top of the second inning as she walked the first two batters, threw a wild pitch and allowed the only Whitewater run on a groundout before getting in a groove that carried into the remainder of the game.
The Lady Indians got the run back after one out in the bottom of the third inning as Olivia Davis was hit by a pitch, stole second and raced around to the bases to score the run.
After a quick top of the fourth inning, the Lady Indians went to work in the bottom of the frame as 13 batters went to the plate and seven came home.
Barber reached on a single, Brittany Ebert reached on an infield error and A.J. Estrada was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Haley Young.
Young hit a groundball to shirt but he ball was mishandled and EC scored twice as Barber and Ebert crossed home on the play with courtesy runner Abby Bunn taking second.
Kaylyn Fairchild reached first on a force play and after a double steal, Kris Odum followed with a single that scored Young and Fairchild scored on the throw back to the infield and the lead was 7-1.
Davis reached after being hit by a pitch and after a pitching change, Lynch reached on an infield error that scored Odum and Bell followed with a run single with final run scoring as JoCee Barrett was hit by a pitch.
Lynch would breeze through the fifth inning of play as she retired the first two batters on strikeouts to give her nine for the day then closed the game by inducing a groundout to shirt.

A few whims on post #114 and working on #115

COMMENTARY

A couple of years ago I decided for a number of reasons that I would create a couple of blogs with one for sports and one for other news items.
As you can tell, I have put in a lot of work on this blog and very little on the other.
So far this one has 113 posts with the last one appearing on April 25 when East Coweta defeated Westlake in high school baseball.
I meant to add a few more but for some reason that didn't happen and I regret that because there was still a few events going on and issues in which I would comment about.
Since that last post, the Indians were eliminated from the state playoffs by a pretty good Luella team while the girls' soccer teams at Northgate and East Coweta advanced to the final four of the state playoffs.
Former Northgate baseball standout Will Smith came home and pitched a couple of games in relief for the Milwaukee Brewers at Turner Field against the Atlanta Braves while one time Lady Viking hoopster and tennis star Natalie Pluskota has been trying to find her niche in the world of professional tennis.
Over the past couple of weeks, Pluskota has been at Roland Garros during the French Open and adding to lessons of life while there.
Her mother Sherry, who nearly started a war with the French while there, has put together a blog that allows friends and family to keep up with our budding tennis star.
That site is called Pluskota Tennis and to geth there just hit this link
In the past couple of days, Tray Matthews must have hit his limit at the University of Georgia as he was excused from the Bulldogs by head football coach Mark Richt but good news also came through the news cycle as former East Coweta pitcher Cam Bedrosian finally got his call to the show by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
With papa Steve, brother Kyle and his wife as well as baby sister Katelyn in attendance, Cam made his debut as an Angel reliever in the sixth inning in Houston against the Astros.
He had a strikeout and induced a pair of groundouts and he wore number 68 as the excited males of the Bedrosian clan showed their pleasure. The Bedrosian women were calm but they were also pleased.
Cam and his Angel teammates will play in Turner Field the weekend of the 13th against the Braves.
Also, former Northgate softball star Ansley Smith and her Kentucky Wildcat teammates appeared in a regional in Los Angeles and gave the tournament a run before being eliminated in what was considered to be a very exciting but heartbreaking game.
So as you can see, I have missed a lot of things since the end of April and that is regrettable.
But I keep on keepin' on.
While I have missed a lot of opportunities, I like writing the blog but it provides little or no funds to the massive fortune.
Of course, my boyish good looks will not keep the lights on, gas in the car or allow for a new pair of shoes as well as a possible haircut (I have two brothers who are dying for that one).
The preceding sentence was not meant as a woe is me but a negative in writing this blog and statement of reality in my life.
The other is I am not that bright and it is tough to put something together as often as I did when I was writing on a regular basis at a local publication.
In other words, at this time I do not have a lot of story possibilties right now but I am trying to take care of that problem.
I plan to submit the 115th post soon but after that it is unknown what will happen as I try to get things together and hope for an inspiration.
Meanwhile, I will be in Princton, Kentucky for a few days as part of a four-man religious mission.
While there, I hope to convert the masses to become fans of the Georgia Bulldogs and Atlanta's professional sport teams during the moments that I try to help my fellow man.
Highlights of the trip will be on a different blog that I have and has seen nothing posted in a long time.
That blog is called The Papercut which is a non-sports blog that never seemed to get off the ground and was to be used for the same purpose as this blog.
To access it, one simply needs to click here and viola!
My hope is to have something on Saturday with a few photos and maybe a little ditty about the ride on Interstates 75 and 24.
Until then, hopefully I will find answers to questions that remain in my head.

Gemmel perfect at the plate as EC closes regular season with win over Westlake

COLLEGE PARK-Bryce Gemmel went 4-for-4 with four RBIs and three runs scored to lead the East Coweta Indians to a 15-4 six-inning victory Friday night over the Westlake Lions at Evans Field.
The Region 3-AAAAAA win was the 15th in a row for the Indians who will take a 19-5 overall record and the region's top seed into their first round state playoff series next Friday at home aginst the Colquitt County Packers.
The Packers are the fourth seed from Region 1-AAAAAA.
The Indians took the lead in the top of the first inning as Stephan Cruver was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on a single by Nick Pippin who advanced to second on an error by the catcher and came home on a single to center by Gemmel.
Gemmel, who took second on the throw to the plate, came home on a two out single Jaquez Williams for the final run of the inning.
Cary Holloway gave the Indians a 4-0 lead as he led off the top of the second when he reached on an infield error, stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball before eventually coming home on a wild pitch.
The Indians widened their lead in the top of the fourth inning as Devonte Brown reached on a one out single and stole second before Cruver reached on a walk.
An infield error allowed Brown to score then Gimmel struck again with a two run single to give the Indians a 6-0 lead.
Gimmel advanced to second on a wild pitch, stole third then after a walk to Matthew Meyer came home on a passed ball while Meyer advanced to second.
Meyer came home with the fifth and final run of the inning when Austin Jones reached on a bloop single.
The Lions, who will finish with the region's fourth seed, cut into the lead with four runs due to a pair of walks, an infield error and a single but the rally was ended and the score was 9-4.
The Indians scored a run in the top of the fifth inning as Cruver reached with two outs after being hit by a pitch and scoring on a two out soingle by Gemmel.
In the top of the sixth inning, the Indians pulled away with five runs as several pinch hitters came into the game while Cruver had a two run double and that man Gemmel scored the final run of the game.

Top two spots of Region 3-AAAAAA baseball remain in Coweta County after Newnan sweeps Westlake

Mother Nature has been a thorn in the side of Marc Gilmore's first year as the head baseball coach at Newnan High School and tried to dig deeper Tuesday as the Cougars faced the Westlake Lions in a Region 3-AAAAAA double header at Joe Pope Field.
Her mission failed as the Cougars defeated the raindrops to sweep the Lions in the twinbill by scores of 6-0 and 11-0.
Including a 16-1 bludgeoning of the Langston Hughes Panthers Monday evening, the Cougars improve to 11-11 overall and are 8-3 in the region which is good for second place while the Lions fell into third place with an overall record of 11-12 and a region mark of 8-5.
The sweep means that the Cougars will finish no worse than third with a game against the Panthers scheduled for Wednesday night in Fairburn and three games afterward while the Lions will play in Sharpsburg against the East Coweta Indians,
As for the games, the opener was scoreless in the first inning but the Cougars took the lead in the bottom of the second with four runs off Lions starter and loser Tyler Wilcher.
Caleb McElwaney led off with a single, KD Satterwhite reached first after being hit by a pitch and Tyler Davis moved the duo into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt to first for Anthony Marion.
Marino lined a shot into right center field for a an RBI double as McElwaney and Satterwhite both came home.
A walk to Chase Davis followed and Drew Oldham singled to score Marino from third and the final run of the frame came after Brady Barnes hit into a fielders choice.
Newnan added to the lead in the bottom of the third inning as Connor Dunn and Jake Kniedel led off with back-to-back doubles that resulted in one run while an infield error allowed Kniedel to come home with the finally tally of the game.
While Mother Nature eventually conceded by stopping the rain, Cougars starter Sawyer Steele was working on six hit shutout in which he recorded four strikeouts which his team's defense was flawless in the field.
In the nightcap, which was played under partly cloudy skies without any rain, the Cougars were the visitors as the game was originally scheduled to be played in College Park.
The Cougars made for bad visitors as they scored a run in the top of the first as they loaded the bases with one out for Satterwhite who grounded out to the Lions' shortstop as Ty Herring crossed home plate.
Newnan added a single run in the top of the second inning as Justin Groover led off the frame by hitting a 1-1 offering from Lions pitcher Malcolm Boyce over the left field fence for a solo home run.
The "visitors" added a single run in the top of the third inning with two outs as Satterwhite doubled and reached third on a throwing error before coming home on a single by Marino.
In the top of the fourth, the Lions let Boyce down as Oldham and Barnes led off the frame by reaching on fielding errors and coming home when Kniedel grounded out to shortstop.
The top of the fifth became the undoing of the Lions as 11 batters went to the plate and six runs scored as three walks, two wild pitches and a fielding error contributed to the misfortune.
The Cougars accepted the problems of their opponent in the bottom of the frame as starter Tanner Snellgrove retired the side to end the game under the mercy rule.
In five innings Snellgrove held the Lions to two hits while allowing two walks and recording two strikeouts.

EC defeats Westlake, clinch tie for region title

COLLEGE PARK-Matthew Meyer was 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI while Austin Bellamy settled down on the mound to finish with a five-hitter Monday as the East Coweta Indians defeated the Westlake Lions 5-2 to claim at a share of the Region 3-AAAAAA title.
The win at Bill Evans Field was the 14th in a row for the Indians who improved to 18-5 overall and 12-0 in the region while the Lions fell to 8-3 in the region as they enter a doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at Newnan's Joe Pope Field against the Cougars.


Austin Jones' solo home run in the top of the first gave the Indians the lead.

The Indians took the lead with one out in the top of the first inning as Austin Jones hit a solo home run over the left field fence.
After Bryce Gemmel grounded out, Meyer reached on his first double of the game when he lined a shot into the left center gap and came home when Jaquez Williams had an RBI double.
Williams scored the third and final run of the game when he hit a single to left field.
The Lions threatened to come back in the bottom of the second inning as the first two batters reached but the threat looked like it would be brief as a line drive was hit to Devonte Brown at shortstop and the freshman was able to turn a double play as he caught the baserunner too far from third base.
However, three singles followed and the lead was cut to 3-2 in favor of the Indians.
The Indians managed to get one of the runs back with one out in the top of the third inning when Meyer lined a shot into the right center field gap for his second double of the game and eventually scored on an infield single by Makenzie Martin.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Indians scored their final run of the contest as Gemmel reached on an infield single, stole second and came home when Meyer singled to right field.

Austin Bellamy allowed five hits and recorded eight strikeouts in seven innings.

Meanwhile, Bellamy managed to settle down after a sluggish start as retired the final 10 batters of the game and 14 of 16 after the second inning with seven of his eight strikeouts and inducing six infield outs.
The second game of the series will be played Wednesday evening at 5:30 in Sharpsburg on Senior Night and the Indians will have an opportunity to clinch the region's top seed.