Chris Whitaker
ELLAVILLE — Rivals will meet on Thursday for the first time this season in the Region 2-A softball championship series.
Both Schley County and Taylor County won their semifinal games with shutouts on Monday. Four Lady Wildcats had two hits as Schley beat Wilcox County for a third time this season, 3-0, and Taylor edged Turner 1-0.
Schley (20-5) scored in the first inning on a Stephanie Veatch RBI-single in the first inning. Ansley Phillips and Bonnie Catherine Morris each had RBI-singles in the fifth, proving to be enough insurance for pitcher Caitlyn Bass.
Bass tossed a two-hitter, striking out 11 while walking one and hitting two.
“We stayed focused the entire ball game,” said coach Brandy Conner. “But I don’t think we had a very good ball game. We didn’t come out hitting the ball. We talked about not hitting the ball the last three weeks, and I hope Thursday we’ll open up and start hitting.”
Phillips, Veatch, Morris and Brittany Byrd all had two hits as Schley had nine as a team.
A coin toss either Monday night or Tuesday morning will determine where the championship series take place, despite Schley having a better record than Taylor (14-11). The Lady Vikings beat Hawkinsville 11-3 in the first round. Schley received the bye since there are only three teams in sub-region B.
Taylor won 2 of 3 meetings with Schley last year, including a 3-2 extra-inning game in the region championship.
Conner said even with four freshmen starting, they know the importance of this rivalry.
“It’s Taylor,” she said. “We have a past with each other, and we can’t go in underestimating nobody at this point. We’ve got to play ball whether it’s two games or three games. We’ve got to be in it, and I think the girls are hungry and want it.
“(The freshmen) know the history from playing in middle school. They all know they have to step up and play.”
Conner added that this year’s team has more depth overall.
“Everybody from our first-year starters and our freshmen to our seniors, every one of them can hold their own in the ball game,” she said. “They know their role and what to do. The freshmen aren’t scared to do it.”
