Cartersville rallies for region win; Adairsville drops road contest
Cartersville softball picked up an important Region 5-AAAA victory Thursday evening at Cedartown with a 5-4 win. After three scoreless frames, Cartersville took a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth only to have the host Bulldogs answer with a three-run effort in the bottom of the inning. The two teams added single runs in the fifth inning before Cartersville knotted the score at 4-4 with a run in the sixth and pushed across the game-winner in the top of the seventh on Hope Short’s RBI fielder’s choice grounder.
Cedartown got a leadoff batter on base to start their seventh inning, but Lady Canes’ pitcher McKinley Chada ended the threat with a pair of groundouts and a comebacker line out.
Chada (7 IP, 4R, 1ER, 10H, 3BB, 4K) went the distance in the circle for Cartersville to earn the win. Cedartown’s Madi Reynolds (7 IP, 5ER, 9H, 0K, 7BB) also went the distance. Roslyn Blankenship and Reagan Peek led the Bulldogs’ 10-hit attack with two hits each. Blankenship’s efforts included a double and one RBI. Campbell Rogers (RBI) and Cio Seigler had a pair of hits each for Cartersville. Short contributed a double and a walk with two RBI. Chada doubled, drove in a run, and walked twice. Mattie Johnson, AnnaKate McElhaney, and Elizabeth Nelson added one hit apiece.
The loss drops Cedartown to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in region play. Cartersville (1-1, 1-0) hosts Central-Carroll Tuesday, Adairsville Wednesday, and makes the short trip to Woodland Thursday. All three games next week are 5:30 p.m. starts.
LAFAYETTE 8, ADAIRSVILLE 5
The Adairsville Lady Tigers softball team dropped its second straight game to open the 2019 season Thursday night with an 8-5 non-region loss at LaFayette. The Tigers scored twice in the first inning, added three more runs in the fourth, and out hit the Ramblers nine to five, but came up short on the scoreboard. LaFayette scored a single run in the first inning and took the lead for good with a six-run fourth inning to lead 7-5. The Ramblers added an insurance run in the sixth for their three-run victory.
LaFayette pitcher Madison Pettigrew (3.1 IP, 0R, 1H, 2BB, 4K) picked up the win in the circle in relief of starter Haven Yancey (3.2 IP, 5R, 2ER, 8H, 0BB, 3K). Adairsville also split the pitching duties between starter Victoria O’Neal (3.2 IP, 7R, 1ER, 4H, 3BB, 1K) and Taylor Rhoades (2.1 IP, 1ER, 1H, 1BB).
The big offensive blow for LaFayette was a grand slam by Pettigrew in the fourth inning. Senior Marquila Howell had two hits to pace the Ramblers’ offense and Samantha Adkins drove in a run with a double. Alexa Varner led the Tigers with three hits including a double and two RBI. Rhoades had two hits. Megan Gregory, Chloe Souders, and Sadye Johnson all added one hit and one RBI apiece. Katie Smith also contributed an Adairsville base hit.
The win leveled LaFayette’s season record at 2-2. Adairsville (0-2) will look to bounce back Monday at home against Coosa and plays at Cartersville next Wednesday.
