Lady Cougars Earn Important Win
The Lady Cougars earned a key 7-6 region win against LaGrange Tuesday at home.
Heather Tyler scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh as Piedmont improved to 4-3 in region play and 12-10 overall.
“We played together as a team,” said coach Danny Camp. “We’ve been doing our best to hang in there. We’ve played a brutal schedule. Our girls continue to show up and work hard every day.”
Carla Martin earned the win going all seven innings while striking out four batters and not allowing a walk.
“She kept us in the game,” Camp said of Martin’s effort.
It was LaGrange, however, who was in control of Tuesday’s contest early. With LaGrange leading 5-1 going into the bottom of the third inning, the Lady Cougars began to climb back in the game by scoring two runs.
Morgan Tillman would deliver a big three-run double in the bottom of the fifth to temporarily give Piedmont a 6-5 lead. LaGrange tied the score at 6-6 before the Lady Cougars won in the bottom of the seventh.
“In about the third inning, you could see it in our players’ eyes,” Camp said. “We knew we had a chance to win it. We just want to keep climbing and keep getting better.”
Piedmont will host Flint River today, Sept. 22 at 4 p.m. “It will be a big game,” Camp said. “They aren’t going to come in here and overlook us. Flint River has a great deal to play for.” The Lady Cougars have secured third place in the region.
Prior to Tuesday, the Piedmont Lady Cougars earned a key 8-0 win against Heritage last Thursday. Martin recorded her ninth victory of 2011 by throwing a no-hitter.
Offensively, Cheyenne Galloway was 2-for-2 with an RBI. Kacy Swart, Hailey Burnham, Savannah Holifield and Haley Tyler also drove in runs.
Piedmont also played two games Saturday as the Lady Cougars fell to Brentwood 8-2 and to Bulloch 2-1. In the contest against Brentwood, Piedmont was led by Burnham, who was 2-for-4 at the plate. Anna Jones drove in two runs while Heather Tyler, Brittany Germany and Morgan Tillman all contributed offensively.
“We had situations where we needed to make a play,” Camp said. “We gave them extra outs and that hurt us. We left nine runners on base in scoring position. Brentwood is a real good team and you can’t do that against someone of that caliber.”
In the one-run loss to Bulloch, Camp said his team showed poise in being able to bounce back and play a competitive contest.
Bulloch scored two runs the first inning and made them hold up. Swart was 3-for-3 for the Lady Cougars with an RBI. Jones also had a hit.
“We played solid defense,” Camp said. “One of our strengths this season has been the ability to bounce back. We’ve lost to some very good teams. We are putting ourselves in position to win games. I believe Bulloch will be a Final Four team.”