Dunwoody’s Samantha Moss pitched a no-hitter against Stephenson in the Region 6-5A championship game. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Freshman Samantha Moss came within one batter of a five-inning perfect game as she tossed a no-hitter to lead Dunwoody to an 8-0 victory over Stephenson in the Region 6-5A championship game on Thursday at Dunwoody
The only batter to reach base against Moss in the game was Ayanna Destinvil with a leadoff walk in the top of the fifth and final inning. Moss would go on to strike out two batters in the inning and get an infield fly to seal the game for the No. 7 ranked Lady Wildcats (22-4).
Moss retired the first 12 batters of the game, but was in a pitching duel with Stephenson’s Jordyn Powell who allowed just two earned runs in the game.
Dunwoody would provide Moss with the only runs she needed in the bottom of the second on a two-run single by Kaylyn Sinisgalli to score Heather Yancey (leadoff single) and Megan Pierce (fielder’s choice) for a 2-0 lead.
Stephenson’s Hannah Huff makes a throw after fielding a bunt against Dunwoody. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Powell held Dunwoody scoreless in the third and after Moss set down the Lady Jaguars (15-5) in order in the top of the fourth the Lady Wildcats struck for six runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Lindsey Puckett led off the inning with a double down the third base line that hit the base and rolled down the foul line. Stephenson then committed the first of two errors in the inning and a walk to Taylor Pierce loaded the bases.
Another error followed by a two-run single by Katlyn Andrin and a RBI single by Allie Puckett pushed the lead to 7-0. Yancey’s ground out to the pitcher scored Puckett for the final run of the inning and the 8-0 final score.
Both teams will host first round playoff doubleheaders next Wednesday against teams from Region 7-5A to open the Class 5A playoffs.
Region 6-5A Consolation Game
Druid Hills 12, SW DeKalb 9
Druid Hills base runner Audrey Kerba (left) gets a lead as Southwest DeKalb third baseman Aryanna Smith defends. (Photo by Mark Brock)
The Druid Hills Lady Red Devils rallied from an early 6-3 deficit to defeat the Southwest DeKalb Lady Panthers 12-9 to earn the No. 3 seed out of Region 6-5A for next week’s Class 5A playoffs.
The score was 4-3 heading into the top of the second inning when Southwest DeKalb’s Mikaela Barnes and Jayda Fareed hit back-to-back RBI doubles off the left field fence to extend the lead to 6-3.
Carter Beckwith pulled Druid Hills (11-14) within 6-4 in the bottom of the second with a RBI single to score Audrey Kerba.
The score remained 6-4 heading into the bottom of the fourth when Druid Hills would have the first five batters of the inning reach base on the way to a six-run tally to pull ahead 10-6.
Elizabeth Aiken led off the inning with an infield single and Julia Bartlewski singled to right to bring up Laura Lenz. Lenz followed her teammates lead and lined a double into the right-center field gap to score Aiken. Beckwith followed with her second RBI single of the game to knot the score at 6-6.
Druid Hills reportedly earns the program’s first state playoff berth as a No. 3 seed with a win over Southwest DeKalb.
Lenz would score on a wild pitch and Helen Francis singled to score Beckwith as Druid Hills took the lead at 8-6. Two errors by the Lady Panthers allowed two more runs to score to give Druid Hills a 10-6 advantage heading to the fifth inning.
The score remained at 10-6 until the bottom of the sixth when another Southwest DeKalb error opened the door for Kerba to deliver a two-run single that extended the lead to 12-6 heading to the top of the seventh.
Southwest DeKalb (13-8) rallied for three runs with the help of three walks, a hit batter and an error to close the gap to 12-9, but Bartlewski struck out the final batter to seal the win.
Druid Hills will make what is thought to be its first playoff appearance in program history (1992-present) as they go on the road to the Region 7-5A No. 2 seed next Wednesday. Southwest DeKalb travels to face the 7-5A No. 1 seed in the opening round.
Region 2-6A at Alcovy
Alcovy is hosting the Region 2-6A Tournament on Saturday (Oct. 10) beginning at 10 am.
Lakeside (7-9) is the No. 4 seed and takes on host and No. 1 seed Alcovy (12-6) in the 10 am game. The No. 2 seeded Lady Rams of Newton (7-9) and the No. 3 seeded Rockdale County Lady Bulldogs (4-5) face off at 12 pm.
The losers meet in the No. 3/4 game at 2:00 pm and the winners meet at 4:00 pm in the championship game to determine the No. 1 seed.
Region 2-6A and Region 3-6A meet in the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs.
Region 6-4A
DeKalb entries Arabia Mountain (14-7) and Chamblee (12-7) reached the No. 3/4 seed game in Region 6-4A with Arabia Mountain taking the No. 3 seed from the Lady Bulldogs for the second consecutive season with a 13-0 victory on Wednesday.
Arabia Mountain travels to the Region 7-4A No. 2 seed (Ridgeland, 18-11/Heritage, 25-4, winner) on Wednesday for a doubleheader to start the best-of-three series.
Chamblee goes on the road to the Region 7-4A No. 1 seed (Ridgeland, 18-11/Heritage, 25-4, winner) for a best-of-three doubleheader on Wednesday.
Region 4-3A Consolation
Decatur def. Cedar Grove
Cedar Grove (8-13) fell to Decatur (16-8) on Thursday in the Region 4-3A consolation game at Oakhurst Park in Decatur.
The Lady Saints are the No. 4 seed from the region and will go on the road in the first round of the Class AAA state playoffs next Wednesday against the Region 1-3A champion.