Veterans falls as one of three final teams in softball state championship tournament, Houston County goes home on Day 2

Though Mother Nature delayed the start of the GHSA softball state tournament, two Houston County teams made some noise before eventually heading home.

Houston County made it to Day 2 and Veterans lasted until Day 3 and were one of three final teams.

Here’s a recap of their time in Columbus:

Find the 5A GHSA bracket here.

Houston County

Oct. 30

The Lady Bears fell in their first game of the tournament to Jackson County, 8-3.

Lady Panthers pitcher Adalyn Mitchell, who has a couple of no-hitters under her belt this season, struck out eight batters in her seven innings in the circle.

HoCo’s offense was shut out of the game until the sixth inning, where they scored all three of their runs. The first was walked in while Olivia Buffone flied out and Kendall Carswell hit a single to tie the game.

Jackson County scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the game away.

With that loss the Lady Bears are sent down to the loser’s bracket, and will play the loser of South Effingham and Lassiter on Friday, Oct. 31 at 9 a.m.

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Oct. 31

HoCo’s time in Columbus is officially over after their 12-3 loss to Lassiter in the loser’s bracket on Friday. The Lady Bears finish their season with a 21-14 overall record, a region championship and an Elite Eight appearance.

Lassiter’s offense just couldn’t be stopped, as they batted 14-of-33 (.424) and didn’t strike out a single time.

The Lady Trojans only gave up six hits and held the Lady Bears scoreless for five out of the six innings in the game.

Veterans

Oct. 30

Veterans came out swinging in their first game in Columbus, scoring four runs in the first inning of their 6-4 victory over Loganville.

The Lady Red Devils certainly made the game interesting, though, after the Lady Warhawks took a 5-0 lead in the third.

A single by Presley Scott and a fielder’s choice for Addy Moss put two on the scoreboard for Loganville, and they scored two more in the sixth before leaving a couple stranded in the seventh inning, putting them in the loser’s bracket.

The Lady ‘Hawks will play the winner of Creekview and Effingham County on Thursday, Oct. 30 at 5 p.m.

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Though Veterans led 4-3 going into the sixth inning, Creekview poured it on in the final two to take home a 12-4 win and advance to play South Effingham on Oct. 31 at 5 p.m.

Playing two games in one day wasn’t ideal for the Lady ‘Hawks. Caidence Scott, who threw 135 pitches in the first game against Loganville, threw 100 through 6.1 innings. Rizzy White and Maddie Dubbert gave up a combined two hits, three earned runs and two walks in 0.2 innings to close the game out.

That loss sends Veterans to the loser’s bracket, where they’ll play Lassiter on Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. after they beat Houston County 12-3 Friday morning.

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Oct. 31

If you saw Veterans’ Aug. 12 comeback win over Northside-Columbus, the bottom of the lineup came up big.

The same thing happened Friday as the bottom three batters drove in four of the Lady Warhawks’ six runs in a 6-3 final.

Mia Ward was 2-of-4 with two RBI, Kalleigh Stokes and Braylin Horten each batted 2-of-3 with one RBI.

Veterans’ bottom three is one of the reasons they’ve made it this far, and now it advances them to the Final Four in a matchup against Loganville, the same team they beat in their first game in Columbus.

That matchup will happen on Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. in another win or go home contest. The winner will face the loser of South Effingham and Creekview on Nov. 1 at 11 a.m. for a chance to play the winner in the championship game.

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In a rematch from Day 1’s matchup, the Lady ‘Hawks sent Loganville home for good with an 8-2 win on Friday night.

It was more straightforward than the previous contest, as Veterans never trailed and led by at least three runs at all times after scoring four through the first two innings.

Rizzy White, Hailey Maloney and Braylin Horton each had two hits and combined for three RBI, and Caidence Scott struck out four batters in her seven innings in the circle.

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Nov. 1

With a chance to advance to the championship game, Veterans stepped up to the plate at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning to face South Effingham, who’d lost 6-2 to Creekview on Friday to push them into the loser’s bracket.

The Lady ‘Hawks, who’d generally scored first and in bunches in their previous games, went down 3-0 after the first inning and never came back.

They did tie the game with five runs in the sixth inning, but two doubles and a single in the top of the seventh by the Lady Mustangs put them back ahead in the 8-5 victory.

South Effingham lost to Creekview in the championship game 11-3.

Despite not coming home with any new hardware, this Veterans team set a school record with 30 wins this season, ending the year with a 30-8 overall record and a region runner-up finish.