The Coffee Lady Trojans did all they could do Thursday night. In the final two region games on the schedule – and during Senior Night to boot – Coffee swept the Lee County Lady Trojans in a doubleheader at Faircloth Field. Coffee won game one 6-0 and then took game two 4-3. The two games capped a week which saw Coffee beat Lee three times and improve to 18-5 overall and 11-4 in region play.
And the Lady Trojans still don’t know their final seeding for the playoffs.
Going into the game, Coffee was tied for third. The playoff wouldn’t come into focus until at least after last night’s slate of region games finished. Even then, the Lady Trojans might have to wait until a scheduled tiebreaker between Houston and Lee on September 30 took place.
Last night, Houston and Thomas County Central were rained out. The Lady Trojans won’t know who they’re playing or where those games will be until at least those two games are made up. Depending on the outcome, they may play the waiting game until Tuesday.
No matter what happens, Coffee had to beat Lee on Thursday. And that’s exactly what they did. In game one, Maggie Brown threw a complete-game two-hit shutout, striking out six with no walks.
Coffee scored two in the first, one in the third, one in the fifth, and two in the sixth. Karlee Thomas and Jocelyn Fender had two hits. Ella Edge drove in two. Thomas also scored twice. Edge and Fender had Coffee’s only extra-base hits, both of which were doubles.
Game two was a different story. Lee got on the board with two in the first. Coffee answered with two in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at two. Lee pulled ahead in the top of the third with a run to take a 3-2 lead. Coffee waited a couple of innings before plating a pair of runs to go up 4-3. The lead would hold through the final inning and a half to give Coffee the sweep.
Coffee managed just three hits – and all came from the top of the order. Thomas, Ella Winters, and Kanlee Douglas were all 1-3. Douglas started and went 4 1/3 innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on four hits. She struck out five and walked two. Brown threw the final 2 2/3 innings, striking out four and keeping Lee’s offense at bay.
While Coffee waits to find out the final playoff seeding, they’ve got to get ready for two more non-region postseason tune-up games – one on Monday at West Laurens and another on October 6 at Ware County.