How many story lines would you like in one early-season game? A battle of defending state champions with five titles between them over the last three years? Check. A pitcher who has won championships on both teams returning to face her teammates? Double check. A neutral site game with a huge crowd on both sides and all the accompanying chatter (mostly friendly, of course) that comes with it? Triple check.
Such was the case Saturday afternoon at the Premier Sports Complex in Douglas when the GHSA Class A three-time defending state champion Lanier County Lady Bulldogs faced the GIAA Class A two-time defending state champion CCA Lady Patriots.
To top things off, Lanier’s starting pitcher, Emy Lowery, then a freshman, was a big part of the 2024 CCA state title team. In the circle, she was a perfect 6-0 with a 2.33 ERA while also hitting .529 with 33 RBI. A Lakeland native, she played for Lanier last season.
Lowery was back in Douglas in the circle for the first time since that state title year. And her former teammates didn’t plan on being gracious hosts. Emma Gourley in particular wanted to spoil Lowery’s homecoming and she did her best to do that very thing.
Gourley won her battles against Lowery but the former Lady Patriot ultimately came away with the win. Lanier won 4-2 thanks to a pair of runs in the sixth inning that broke a 2-2 tie. The entire CCA offense went through Gourley, who was a perfect 4-4 with a double and home run. She scored both of the Lady Patriots’ runs.
CCA struck first, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Gourley, who had singled, scored on a Klair Mercer double. Lanier went up 2-1 in the fourth when Makensie Nichols tagged and scored on a flyout. Later in the inning, Bree Hoopiana scored when Kam Sealy reached on an error.
In the fifth, Gourley tied the game at two apiece with a solo home run on the first pitch she saw. An inning later, Janie Faye Taylor led off with a single and eventually scored from third on a bunt by Molly Livingston. Sealy put the Lady Bulldogs up 4-2 when she crossed the plate on a wild pitch later in the inning.
The Lady Patriots made a little noise in the top of the seventh when Gourley reached on her fourth hit of the day, a one-out single, but she couldn’t make it past first.
Allie Veal was the only other Lady Patriot with multiple hits; she was 2-2 with a pair of singles. Mercer doubled and drove in one.
Shanley Meeks was in the circle again for CCA. She gave up four runs (two earned) on nine hits. She struck out five and walked two.
Lowery had a solid line as well. She also gave up nine hits but only two runs, both of which were earned. She struck out seven and didn’t walk anyone.
The Lady Bulldogs also won the defensive battle; Lanier only committed one error to CCA’s four.
The game was just the second of the season for Lanier County, which is now 2-0. CCA is 6-2 and faces Crisp Academy at home Tuesday at 6 p.m.
