The Lady Devils were on fire last Tuesday night.
In the first round of the GHSA state playoffs, the host Lady Devils defeated the Washington High School Lady Bulldogs by a combined 31 runs in seven total innings to advance them to the Sweet Sixteen round.
In the first game of the best-two-out-of-three series, the Lady Devils took the lead in the bottom of the first with two runs by senior catcher Makenley Rorick’s courtesy runner Hannah Brady and junior pitcher Ava Lunsford.
The Lady Devils widened the lead to 9-0 after the bottom of the second.
Reagan Baker started off scoring on an error from the catcher in the same play in which senior Liberty Burnette stole third and freshman Miller Drake stole second.
Burnette and Drake scored a play later after Rorick doubled on a line drive to center field. Rorick scored the sixth run of the night after Lunsford doubled on a line drive to left field.
While senior Dallas Dean was battling at the plate, Lunsford stole third and then home to score the seventh run of the night.
With Dean and senior Chesnee Brown on base, junior Lilly Ray doubled on a hard ground ball to left field and both seniors scored to give the eighth and ninth runs of the night.
In the bottom of the third, Drake scored run No. 10 on a steal of home and Hannah Brady followed just a few plays later with run 11. With one out,
Rorick singled on a hard ground ball to center field in the bottom of the fourth, allowing Burnette to score and call the game.
Lunsford and fellow junior Emalise Andrews were responsible for the first shutout game, allowing only one hit out of 58 combined pitches thrown. Lunsford had six strikeouts for the game while Andrews had two.
The second game had a nearly identical start with Rorick and sophomore Gracie Brady scoring two runs in the top of the first to put the Lady Devils up 2-0.
The top of the second was when the Lady Devils really brought the heat, scoring 15 runs to give them a well-distanced 17-0 lead in just two innings.
Burnette walked to first after being hit by a pitch and stole second while Drake was at bat. Burnette then scored after Drake hit a fly ball and reached on error by the right fielder.
Gracie Brady hit a line drive and reached on error by the first baseman and Drake scored with Rorick advancing to second.
Brady and Rorick both scored after Dean singled on a ground ball to left field and advanced Lunsford to second.
With the bases loaded with Brown, Lunsford and Dean, Ray hit a fly ball and reached on an error by the left fielder to allow Lunsford to score. Continuing with the bases still loaded, Baker singled on a line drive to right field to allow Dean to score run No. 8.
After two outs, Rorick doubled on a line drive to center field and Brown, Ray and Baker scored three more consecutive runs.
Andrews, at-bat, singled on a line drive to center field, bringing home Rorick and advancing freshman Emily Booth to third. Booth scored and Andrews advanced to second after Dean hit a ground ball and reached on error by the third baseman.
Andrews and Dean then scored runs 14 and 15 for the Lady Devils after Brown doubled on a fly ball to left field.
Sophomore Jayda Wood stepped up to the plate and singled on a line drive to left field, and advanced to second on the throw, allowing Brown to score.
With Baker at bat, Wood stole third and scored after Baker hit a hard ground ball and reached on an error by the shortstop.
In the top of the third, the final inning for the Lady Devils, Brown doubled on a fly ball to center field, allowing Hannah Brady to score and advancing Dean to third.
Sophomore Katelyn Edwards grounded into a fielder’s choice to the third baseman, bringing Dean home to score the 19th and final run for the night.
Rorick and Brown ended the night with six combined RBIs each, Dean and Ray with two and Lunsford, Andrews, Wood, Edwards and Baker with one each.
Junior Jaynee Webb pitched the second game for the Lady Devils, allowing one hit and striking out five.
“We did what I expected us to do,” Head Coach Drew Greer said. “They were a good, energized team, they had fun out there so kudos to them for making it this far and being the No. 3 seed out of their region, but we fully expected to do what we did and we did it. I’m really proud of the group for securing a home field advantage for the first round. Really proud of the seniors for getting to go out on a high note on their field. They really put a stamp on this program and I’m really happy for them. ”
The entire Lady Devils’ roster played a part in the second playoff game, something Greer said helped get players more time and experience after losing games to weather this season.
“That was a big positive,” Greer said. “It was good to be able to get them in with a lot of people in the stands and in a playoff environment-type game.”
The win against Washington advanced the Lady Devils to the Sweet Sixteen round where they were scheduled to travel to Vidalia Tuesday for a doubleheader in a best-two-out-of-three series. The third game, if necessary, was scheduled for Wednesday at 5 p.m.
As of Tuesday, Vidalia (26-5, 14-1) was ranked No. 1 in the state for AA teams while the Lady Devils were ranked No. 10.
“We drove three hours to Union and came away with a win,” Greer said about facing traveling to Vidalia for the second round. “We know Vidalia is the No. 1 team in the state in our rankings. They’ve got pretty dynamite pitchers, they’ve got two really good hitters, but we feel like they identify close to Franklin County and we did really well against them in two games this year. So we feel like if there is a team in this state that can go down there and knock the No. 1 team out and make it to the Elite Eight that it could be us. And why not us?”