Lady Packers advance to state championship tournament
Oct. 21—MOULTRIE — The Colquitt County softball team has swept its way into the Class 7A softball championship tournament after defeating Woodstock 4-2 and 10-4 on Wednesday at Packer Park.
The Lady Packers, ranked No. 3 in Class 7A, will be one of the eight teams seeking the state championship in the tournament that begins next week at the Columbus Softball Complex.
Colquitt will open against North Gwinnett, ranked No. 1 in the state, at 5 p.m. Thursday.
The Lady Bulldogs, now 27-5, swept Newnan on Wednesday to advance.
One of Colquitt County's three losses came at the hands of North Gwinnett by an 8-0 score in the Buccaneer Bash earlier in the season.
Colquitt first reached the championship tournament two years go, but was eliminated after dropping its first two games.
The Lady Packers, now 25-3, will take a 14-game winning streak into the tournament after sweeping a first-round doubleheader over Walton last week and duplicating the effort against Woodstock on Wednesday.
Colquitt had taken eight straight run-rule victories, but could not extend that streak on Wednesday.
Still, the Lady Packers did not appear seriously threatened by the Lady Wolverines, the No. 3 team from Region 5, who were 16-9 heading into the series.
Emily Allegood pitched all 14 innings and raised her record to 16-1.
Colquitt took a 1-0 lead in the third inning of Game 1 when Katlynn Powers led off with a single and Madison Plymel doubled her home.
Plymel drove in two more runs in the three-run third with a triple.
Colquitt had just six hits in the opener, with Plymel and Powers each getting two.
Allegood and Bre Caldwell had the others.
Woodstock had just four base runners and just three balls hit out of the infield over the first five innings.
The Lady Wolverines scored both of their runs in the sixth.
They brought the potential tying run to the plate with two outs in the seventh, but a runner who attempted to score on a wild pitch was tagged out in a rundown to end the game.
The Lady Packers were the visitors in Game 2 and scored five runs in the top of the first.
Three of the runs scored courtesy of a Carli Pearson home run. Two batters later, Morgan Holder hit the team's second homer of the inning.
Woodstock got two runs in the bottom of the first, but didn't score again until the fifth, by which time the Lady Packers had built an 8-2 lead.
The final two Colquitt County runs came in the sixth when Plymel singled for her fifth hit of the doubleheader, went all the way to third on a sacrifice by Julia Duncan and scored on Pearson's ground out.
Caldwell followed with a double, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Holder's infield hit.
Colquitt had 15 hits in Game 2, including three by Plymel and two each by Powers, Allegood, Pearson, Caldwell, Holder and Jacey Wetherington.
Pearson drove in five runs in Game 2. Allegood and Holder each drove in two.
Woodstock had eight hits in the nightcap against Allegood, who struck out nine in the game.
She struck out four in the opener.
