The Coffee Lady Trojans gave the South Effingham Mustangs a scare on Wednesday in the second round of the state playoffs in Guyton. Ultimately, however, the Mustangs, the state’s #1 team, prevailed, sweeping the Lady Trojans and advancing to the third round.
In game one, most of the scoring by both teams took place in the third inning. The Lady Trojans struck first, scoring two. Ella Edge hit a one-out double that scored Addie Spikes for a 1-0 lead. Jocelyn Fender followed with a fielder’s choice that drove in Kanlee Douglas.
The Mustangs scored four in the bottom of the frame then added one run in the sixth for a 5-2 lead that proved to be the final.
Edge was 4-4 with an RBI. Bella Purvis also had two hits.
Maggie Brown threw a complete game, allowing five runs on six hits while striking out seven and walking three. None of those runs were earned; the Coffee defense committed four errors in the game.
In the nightcap, the Lady Trojans took a 1-0 lead in the second when Madison Adams scored Allie Pridgen on a fielder’s choice. The Mustangs scored one in the fourth, five in the fifth, and one in the seventh to go up 7-1.
Then, in the bottom of the seventh, the Coffee offense rousted from its slumber.
After a leadoff ground out, Adams singled. Spikes reached on an error that moved Adams to second. Douglas kept the rally going with another single to load the bases.
And that brought Edge to the plate.
She wasted no time, hitting the first pitch she saw out to left for a grand slam to get the Lady Trojans to within two. After a pop out, Pridgen singled, which brought the tying run to the plate with momentum on Coffee’s side. A long at-bat followed but concluded with a groundout to end the game.
Pridgen and Adams each had two hits. Edge drove in four. Fender’s one hit was a triple; she and Edge had the Lady Trojans’ only extra base hits.
Brown started game two as well. She scattered nine hits across 4 2/3 innings, allowing five runs while striking out six. Douglas threw the final 2 1/3 innings. She allowed two runs on one hit. She walked two and struck out two.
South Effingham will move on to the Elite Eight to face another Region 2 team — the Houston County Bears. Houston defeated Jackson County 9-4 and 9-0 Wednesday night.
