The Cartersville and Adairsville volleyball teams both had their seasons come to a close last Saturday with second round state playoff losses. Cartersville, the No. 2-seed from Region 7-5A, fell at Greater Atlanta Christian in four sets while Adairsville, the No. 3-seed from Region 6-3A, lost at Oconee County in straight sets. In a closely contested match, the Lady Canes won the opening set at GAC 26-24 before falling 25-23, 25-20, and 25-18 over the final three sets. Ailee England had 14 kills and 12 digs. Lauren Lawson also had 14 kills each for Cartersville. Addison Marisko had three blocks. Mia Nicklas contributed 14 digs and Lily Gochee totaled 34 assists for the Hurricanes. Greater Atlanta Christian (25-11) advanced to the state quarterfinals. Cartersville’s season ends with a 29-17 record. At Oconee County, Adairsville lost 25-15, 25-15, 25-12. Richlyn Blair had five kills for the Lady Tigers. Annie McCormick was credited with eight blocks and Adysen Garvey finished with 11 digs. The Warriors improved to 46-7 on the season and moved on to the state quarterfinals. Adairsville’s season ends with a 16-23-2 mark.

Cass softball saw a 5-1 fifth inning lead evaporate Friday afternoon in one big inning by Chattahoochee as the Lady Colonels were eliminated at the Loganville Super Regional, 10-7. Chattahoochee rallied for eight runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 9-5 lead and then held off Cass challenges in the sixth and seventh innings to advance to the Super Regional finals against host Loganville. The Cougars took advantage of four walks and two errors by Cass in the big inning. The rally by Chattahoochee included only two hits. Cass scored three times in the top of the first inning on a two-run triple by Reese Howard and an RBI single by Bailey York. Ansley Hight hit a two run homer in the third inning for a 5-0 Cass advantage. In addition to Chattahoochee’s fifth inning surge, the Cougars added single runs in the third and sixth innings. Emma Gibson (4.1 IP, 7R, 3ER, 3H, 8BB) suffered the pitching loss for Cass. Alexis Woods (1.2 IP, 3ER, 2H, 1BB, 1K) pitched in relief. Hight finished with two hits including her two-run blast. Howard also finished with a pair of hits. York (RBI), Harlee Thomason, Darianna Sosa, Haylee Dishmon, and Woods had the other Cass hits. Braelyn Franklin added one RBI. The Colonels’ season ends with a 10-21 record.

The Woodland softball reached the championship round of the Villa Rica Super Regional Friday evening needing two wins over host Villa Rica to advance, but fell in Game 6 of the tournament 13-4. Villa Rica, who now advances to the Class 5A State Tournament Elite Eight in Columbus October 26-29, started fast scoring four times in the bottom of the first inning on four hits and a Woodland error. They added four more runs in the second inning to go up 8-0. Woodland put together its own four hit frame in the third to narrow the margin to 8-2 but never got any closer. Villa Rica (28-5) tacked on an additional runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings to secure their five inning victory. Toree Wofford (5 IP, 4ER, 7H, 0BB, 3K) was the winning pitcher for Villa Rica. She also powered their offense with a double, three home runs, and four RBIs. Wofford had solo home runs in the second and third innings and her two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth ended the game by run rule. Addie Orr also had four RBIs with a double and a home run. Jordan Hammonds had two hits for Woodland. Peyton Dorn, Kamryn Smith (RBI), Cambrie Carrington (2 RBIs), Haley Collum, and Alana Carnes had one hit each in the loss. Collum (1 IP, 4R, 1ER, 4H) was tagged with the pitching loss. Ashlyn Dowdy (3.1 IP, 9ER, 10H, 0BB, 2K) also pitched for Woodland. Woodland’s season ends with a 17-17 record and a runner-up finish in the Super Regional. WOODLAND 14, WINDER-BARROW 5 Woodland softball advanced to the finals of the Villa Rica Super Regional in Class 5A Friday afternoon with a 14-5 win over Winder-Barrow. The win for the Lady Cats was redemption for an earlier loss to the Lady Bulldoggs in the opening round of the double-elimination tournament. Woodland finished with ten hits and got a solid five inning pitching performance from freshman Haley Collum. The Lady Cats’ hurler scattered eight hits and two walks while striking out five. Jordan Hammonds had two hits with five RBIs in the Woodland win. Peyton Dorn had two hits with four RBIs and Elizabeth Hartsfield also collected two hits. Cambrie Carrington ignited the Lady Cats offense with a first inning, two-run homer while Mackenzie Araya, Collum, and Bailey Sakacsi (2 RBIs) added one hit each. Alana Carnes chipped in with one RBI. The Woodland win put the Lady Cats in the Super Regional finals where they needed two wins over host Villa Rica.

Adairsville’s Chris Roper scored six touchdowns Friday night as the Tigers pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 42-28 win over visiting Gordon Lee. Roper had five rushing touchdowns, caught one touchdown pass, and even added a two-point conversion run. Gordon Lee traded scores with the Tigers through three quarters. Roper, set up by multiple long runs by Ethan Blome, had scoring runs of 48-yard, 10-yards, and 18-yards in the first three periods. He also hauled in a 7-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jonathan Gough just before the intermission. Roper’s two-point conversion run gave Adairsville a 21-14 lead at halftime. Gordon Lee’s Kade Cowan tossed three touchdown passes in that same stretch. He had a 22-yarder in the opening period and had a 20-yarder to Nate Dunfree midway through the second quarter that briefly gave the Trojans a 14-13 lead. In the third quarter Cowan added another scoring pass that tied the score 21-21. Dunfree added a four-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that knotted the score at 28-all at the time. Roper’s two touchdown runs in the fourth quarter helped the Tigers pull away. The senior slot back had a 14-yard touchdown run and a 3-yard scoring run that lifted the Tigers to their 42-28 win. The loss drops Gordon Lee to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in Region 6-AAA. Adairsville (7-1, 5-0) travels to Bremen next Friday.

Cartersville clinched a state playoff berth and moved into position to host a first round state playoff game Friday night with a hard-fought 31-6 win over visiting Woodland. Both teams struggled with turnovers, but the Canes outscored the Wildcats 14-0 in the second half to pull away with the Region 7-5A victory. Following a Cartersville turnover and an exchange of punts, the Canes scored first by virtue of a safety. Woodland was pinned down at their own 1-yard line and the Cartersville defense tackled a Wildcats’ runner in the end zone with about four minutes left in the opening quarter. Up 2-0, the Canes had great field position following the free kick. Key runs by Malachi Jeffries moved Cartersville into the red zone and he later scored with a four yard touchdown run. Canes’ quarterback Nate Russell then completed a two-point conversion pass to Jaylen Scott to give Cartersville a 10-0 lead late in the opening period. Barylon Inman’s interception set up the Canes’ next score. On the next play, Khristian Lando found the end zone with a 15-yard run and Ryan Johnson’s PAT kick gave Cartersville a 17-0 advantage in the final minute of the first quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, Woodland’s Isaiah Livsey first mishandled the kick and then found daylight for a 99-yard return for touchdown. The Wildcats’ PAT missed and their following onside kickoff attempt failed leaving the Hurricanes with the ball at the 50-yard line as the second quarter began. Each team threw interceptions in the second period and Cartersville kicker Ryan Johnson missed a 47-yard field goal attempt. Following the scoreless quarter, the teams went to the intermission with Cartersville leading 17-6. The Canes went ahead 24-6 late in the third quarter on Lando’s second touchdown run and took a 31-6 lead just over halfway through the fourth quarter on his third rushing touchdown. This score was an 11-yard dash into the end zone. Woodland (1-8, 0-4) travels to Hiram next Friday. Cartersville (8-1, 3-1) heads to Dalton for a final regular season game with the Catamounts. The Canes will clinch a home state playoff game with a win at Dalton and could win the region title with a victory and a Calhoun loss to Cass.

The Cass defense limited Hiram to its second lowest point production of the season and held off the Hornets in the fourth quarter for a 26-21 Region 7-5A win at Cochran Stadium. The Colonels trailed 14-12 at halftime but scored twice in the fourth quarter for their come-from-behind win. The victory sends Cass (4-5, 2-2) into their final regular season game next week at Calhoun with an opportunity to finish as high as a No. 2-seed in the Class 5A state playoffs. The win also gives the Colonels a head-to-head tie-breaker advantage over the Hornets who fell to 1-3 in region play. With Calhoun’s win over Dalton, the Yellow Jackets will win the region championship next week with a win over Cass. A Colonels’ win, however, would create a three-way tie for second place. The region tie-breaker is point differential in games involving the tied teams with a 12-point maximum per game. Cass would finish no worse than third in the region with a win over Calhoun and could finish second pending the other outcomes of next Friday’s games. Heading into the game at Cass, Hiram had averaged more than 41 points per game over their last seven games. On Friday night, however, the offense scored only twice with one of their scores coming on a defensive scoop-and-score in the second quarter. The Hornets received the game’s opening kickoff and scored on the first play from scrimmage. A 65-yard run by Jemarion Whatley gave Hiram a 7-0 lead with 11:41 remaining in the first quarter after a PAT kick by Oliver Castaneda. Cass responded with a 77-yard drive that took 10 plays. The scoring play was a 33-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Brodie McWhorter to junior slot receiver Devin Henderson. The Colonels’ PAT kick missed wide left, however, and left Hiram up 7-6. The teams swapped possessions until late in the second quarter when Cass committed a costly turnover. The Colonels were trying to set up a double-pass, but Hiram’s Jaden Coggins broke up the lateral throw from McWhorter to Henderson behind the line of scrimmage. The fumble was picked up by the Hornets and returned 30 yards for a score giving Hiram a 14-6 lead with 4:49 remaining in the second period. Again, Cass answered. Cass drove 47-yards on four plays just over three minutes later to narrow the Hornets’ lead to 14-12. McWhorter found Devin Henderson streaking toward the back of the end zone on a 20-yard pass and catch. The Colonels’ two-point conversion pass was completed to Henderson but he was forced out of bounds just shy of the pylon. A scoreless third quarter included two more Cass turnovers and a Colonels’ defense that came up with multiple stops. Cass started an 80-yard, 14-play scoring drive late in the third quarter and ultimately scored at the 10:37 mark of the fourth quarter. Key runs by Kevin Henderson and Mac Nelson along with possession runs and throws by McWhorter powered the drive. Kevin Henderson punched in a 2-yard scoring run and Devin Henderson ran in a two-point conversion to give Cass a 20-14 advantage. On their ensuing possession, Hiram was stopped on downs near midfield and the Colonels added to their lead with a five play, 56-yard touchdown drive. Cass punched it in with a 2-yard keeper by McWhorter with 6:51 left in the game. A two-point conversion attempt failed leaving the score 26-14. Hiram drove its next possession 68-yards on six plays to pull within five points. A six-yard pass from quarterback Samir Wylie to wide receiver Chase Tyler in heavy traffic put the points on the board with 3:25 remaining and set up an onside kickoff attempt by the Hornets. Following a penalty on the first onside kick attempt, Cass’ Devin Henderson — on the front line of the Colonels’ hands team — fell on the Hornets’ next squibbed kick at the Hiram 45 yard line. Hiram used its timeouts and had Cass facing a 4th-and-5 at the Hornets’ 39-yard line with 2:54 remaining. McWhorter attempted a pass that was deflected at the line of scrimmage but continue forward for a few more yards. Colonels’ senior offensive lineman Tyler Pinson made a diving catch of the deflection and the catch gave Cass a first down at the Hornets’ 32-yard line. With no timeouts remaining for Hiram, Cass was able to run out the clock with their next four plays and escaped with a 26-21 region win. Hiram (4-5, 1-3) hosts Woodland next Friday night. The Colonels now prepare for a crucial regular season finale’ at Calhoun.

The Cartersville softball team had its season end Friday afternoon with a 3-1 loss to Kell in the double-elimination GHSA Class 5A Super Regional hosted by the Lady Canes. Cartersville finished 1-2 in the post season with a win over Lithia Springs and losses to both Kell and Eastside. Kell scored a single run in the first inning and added two more in the top of the third for their scoring Friday. Cartersville scored in the bottom of the third to make the score 3-1 but got no closer. Ava Perkins (2.1 IP, 3ER, 3H, 2BB, 1K) and Kennedy Stevens (4.2 IP, 0R, 4H, 0BB) combined for a solid pitching performance, but Kell pitcher Brooke Beam struck out 11 in a seven inning effort for the Longhorns and limited Cartersville to a single run on six hits and one walk. Brooke Smith had three hits including a triple for Kell. Alex Wesley followed with a pair of hits and one RBI for the Longhorns. Campbell Rogers produced two hits including a double for Cartersville. Jordan Bishop also had two hits. Erin McCrary (RBI) and Mikey Lewis had the other Lady Canes’ base hits. Kell (19-10) advanced to the Super Regional finals where the Longhorns will need two wins over Eastside. Cartersville has its 2022 season end with a Region 7-5A title and a 17-11-1 record.

All three local softball teams in the Class 5A state playoffs — Cartersville, Woodland, and Cass — split their Super Regional games Thursday at three separate sites. The double-elimination Super Regionals continue and conclude on Friday. Cartersville, hosting a Super Regional, lost an opener to Eastside before blanking Lithia Springs. Cass, playing at the Loganville Super Regional, dropped a playoff opener to the host Red Devils before bouncing back with a win to eliminate Chapel Hill. Woodland, in action at the Villa Rica Super Regional, fell to Winder-Barrow but came back to blank North Springs in an elimination game. CARTERSVILLE 12, LITHIA SPRINGS 0 McKinley Chada tossed a two-hit shutout Thursday night in an elimination game as Cartersville blanked Lithia Springs 12-0. Chada had two strikeouts and walked one. Elizabeth Nelson had three hits and one RBI to pace the Lady Canes’ attack. Layne Callan followed with two hits and one RBI. Chada added a hit and three RBIs. Mikey Lewis (triple, RBI), Jordan Bishop (RBI), Kiley Arnold (RBI), Ava Perkins (RBI), and Campbell Rogers added one hit each. Erin McCrary collected one RBI. Cartersville plays another elimination game Friday against Kell. The winner will need two wins over Eastside to reach the State Tournament Final Eight in Columbus October 26-29. EASTSIDE 12, CARTERSVILLE 0 Eastside pitcher Dezaria Johnson hurled a five inning, one-hitter and shutout Cartersville in a first round game at the double-elimination Super Regional hosted by the Lady Canes. Johnson walked two and struck out four in the Eagles’ victory. Eastside scored in all five innings. The Eagles posted three runs in the first inning, one in the second, four in the third, two in the fourth, and two more in the fifth. Mikey Lewis had the Hurricanes’ only hit in the third inning. CASS 10, CHAPEL HILL 1 The Lady Colonels bats were lively in an elimination game Thursday night at the Class 5A Loganville Super Regional. Cass pounded out a dozen hits in just five innings and eliminated Chapel Hill, 10-1. Emma Gibson picked up the pitching win for Cass allowing just one earned run on four hits and two walks. Cass led 3-1 after one inning and added one in the second and third innings with two runs and five runs, respectively. Ansley Hight homered twice and finished with five RBIs. Alexis Woods, Reese Howard, and Harlee Thomason also had two hits each. Braelyn Franklin (2 RBIs), Darianna Sosa (RBI), Haylee Dishmon (RBI), and Bailey York added one hit apiece. Cass (10-20) advances to play Chattahoochee Friday at 4 p.m. in an elimination game. The winner will need two wins over host Loganville to advance to the State Tournament Final Eight in Columbus October 26-29. LOGANVILLE 13, CASS 1 Loganville scored four runs in the first and nine more in the second inning en route to a 13-1 win over Cass Thursday in the first round of the Class 5A state playoffs. The top-seeded and host Red Devils had 11 hits in the first three innings to power past the Colonels. Cass managed just five hits in the loss. One hit each by Alexis Woods, Haylee Dishmon, Ansley Hight (RBI), Reese Howard, and Braelyn Franklin. WOODLAND 4, NORTH SPRINGS 0 The Lady Cats broke open a scoreless tie with back-to-back solo home runs by Kamryn Smith and Cambrie Carrington in the bottom of the fourth inning Thursday night. They then added a pair of insurance runs in the fifth to stay alive in the Villa Rica Super Regional with a 4-0 win over North Springs in an elimination game. Ashlyn Dowdy earned the pitching win for Woodland with five innings of scoreless work in the circle. Haley Collum picked up a save with two shutout frames of work. Dowdy and Collum struck out three each. Smith finished with three hits including a homer, double, and two RBIs. Carrington also had a double to go with her homer. Elizabeth Hartsfield, Bailey Sakacsi, and Alana Carnes added one hit apiece. Woodland (16-16) will have a rematch with Winder-Barrow Friday in an elimination game. The winner will need two wins against host Villa Rica to advance to the State Tournament Final Eight in Columbus October 26-29. WINDER-BARROW 6, WOODLAND 2 Woodland was tied 2-2 with Winder-Barrow through five innings Thursday in the first round of the Villa Rica Super Regional when Sydney Methvin smacked a grand slam home run to ultimately lift the Bulldoggs to a 6-2 win. Winder-Barrow led 2-0 through three innings, but the Lady Cats posted single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to knot the score. Emily Hall (7 IP, 2ER, 8H, 0BB, 3K) earned the pitching win for the Bulldoggs. In addition to the grand slam, Dayton Power and Abby Polk also homered for Winder-Barrow. Haley Collum (5 IP, 6ER, 8H, 1BB, 2K) suffered the Woodland pitching loss. Ashlyn Dowdy (1 IP, 0R, 1H) also pitched for the locals. Jordan Hammonds had two hits and one RBI to pace the Lady Cats’ offense. Kamryn Smith (double, RBI), Cambrie Carrington, Haley Collum, Ashlyn Dowdy, Bailey Sakacsi, and Alana Carnes added one hit apiece.

The Cartersville boys cross country team placed third, the Lady Canes were fifth, and the Adairsville boys placed 13th Tuesday at the Fast Break Challenge in Ringgold. The boys race included 235 runners and 15 teams. The girls race had 182 runners and 22 teams represented. Cedartown won the boys race by 18 points over runner-up Dalton. Bremen and Southeast Whitfield were fourth and fifth, respectively, behind the Hurricanes. East Hamilton (TN) won the girls team competition follwed by Walker Valley (TN), Dalton, and Southeast Whitfield. Cartersville’s Malachi Vosburgh (16:25) finished seven seconds behind Cedartown’s Dalton Benefield to place second overall. Other top finishers for the Cartersville boys were Hayden Mitchell (14th, 17:48), Barrett Stepp (19th, 17:58), Kaleb Lanier (26th, 18:06), and Ethan Nix (33rd, 18:22). Griffin Bozeman (35th, 18:23) was the top finisher for Adairsville. Eli Pearson (57th, 18:48), Dutch Hernandez (104th, 19:50), Fletcher Silvers (114th, 19:58), and Michael Spinks (123rd, 20:09) also had scoring runs for the Tigers. The Cartersville girls were paced by Anna Grace Boone (15th, 21:59). Lady Canes’ teammates Leyla Booth (23rd, 22:22), Vivi Vest (38th, 22:50), Meredith Gaines (59th, 23:45), and Samantha Herrera (67th, 24:00) rounded out the scoring runs for Cartersville. The Adairsville girls did not field a full team for scoring, but had two individual participants: Callie Viktora (32nd, 22:35) and Caroline OKelley (63rd, 23:56). Next for Adairsville is the Region 6-AAA Championships at LaFayette next Tuesday. The Region 7-AAAAA Championships with Woodland, Cartersville, and Cass will be at Woodland next Tuesday.

The Cartersville and Adairsville volleyball teams won their opening round matches Tuesday night in their respective classification tournaments. Cartersville blew past Flowery Branch at the Storm Center in a Class 5A first round match while Adairsville picked up a road victory at Carver-Atlanta in Class 3A. The other local team in the Class 5A state playoffs, Cass, fell at Jefferson in straight sets, 25-19, 25-17, and 25-13. The Lady Colonels’ season ends with a 13-26-1 mark. Jefferson advances to the second round where the Dragons will host Kell. Adairsville won in straight sets, 25-5, 25-5, and 25-9. Richlyn Blair had six kills for the Lady Tigers. Jenna Claire Hendley and Jordan Hartline followed with five and four, respectively. Blair had nine of Adairsville's 30 service aces. Hendley had seven, Addie Pearson finished with six and Jayna Wilson had five aced. Pearson totaled seven assists and Annie Mccormick had five. Cartersville beat visiting Flowery Branch 25-8, 25-10, and 25-16 to move on to Round 2. Lauren Lawson had 10 kills, Ailee England eight, and Tennessee Abernathy finished with six kills in the Lady Canes’ victory. Mia Nicklas had nine service aces and six digs. Lily Gochee totaled 21 assists. The Lady Canes (29-16) travel to Greater Atlanta Christian Saturday in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.

Three local fast pitch softball teams have advanced to the GHSA state playoffs that begin Thursday led by Region 7-5A champion Cartersville. The Lady Canes will host one of the eight Class 5A Super Regionals that will continue through Friday After several years with a different playoff format for the early rounds, GHSA returns to the Super Regional format this year with the eight region champions in each classification hosting three other teams in a double-elimination bracket. One team from each Super Regional will advance to the Final Eight double-elimination tournament finals at the Columbus Softball Complex October 26-29. Cartersville (16-9-1) will open the post-season Thursday against Eastside (15-10), a 4-seed from Region 8-5A. Also in the Cartersville Super Regional will be Lithia Springs (18-6-2) and Kell (17-8). Woodland (15-15) made the state playoffs as the 3-seed from Region 7-5A. The Lady Cats will square off with Winder-Barrow (17-8) Thursday in the opening round of the Villa Rica Super Regional. North Springs (9-14) will play host Villa Rica (24-5) in the other opening round game. Cass qualified for the state playoffs as the 4-seed from Region 7-5A. The Lady Colonels (9-19) travel to the Loganville Super Regional Thursday where they open against the host Red Devils (25-5). The other two teams in Loganville will be Chapel Hill (21-7) and Chattahoochee (18-11).

The Woodland girls and boys cross country teams both won the Saturday varsity races in Jasper at the Pickens & Grinnin’ Invitational hosted by Pickens County at Roper Park. The Woodland girls finished 14 points ahead of Campbell with Fellowship Christian placing third. The competition included 14 teams and 106 runners. In the boys race, Woodland finished 14 points ahead of Chestatee with Forsyth Central placing third. The Cass boys were eighth of 15 teams with 129 total runners. Senior Danielle Thayer ran to an eighth place individual finish (21:00) to lead the Lady Cats. Her four scoring teammates finished closely together including Olivia Berry (18th, 21:35), Emma Segars (19th, 21:39), Miranda Pelow (20th, 21:41), and Abby George (22nd, 21:47). The Wildcats were led by a runner-up individual finish by senior Tyler Jones (16:23) and a fourth place finish by senior Drew Thayer (16:57). Landon McSwain (16th, 17:36), Juan Mendoza (18th, 17:44), and Rowan Lee (28th, 18:20) had the other scoring runs for Woodland. Cass junior Critton Gearhart was the top individual finisher for the Colonels, placing eighth in 17:27. He was followed by teammates Leonardo Galeana (43rd, 18:41), Jake Wright (45th, 18:49), Adam Pierce (58th, 19:01), and Adam Brush (67th, 19:10). The next race for Woodland and Cass will be the Region 7-5A Championships hosted by Woodland Tuesday, October 25.