Lady Cougars Play for GISA Title

Piedmont Academy’s fast-pitch softball team is now two wins away from its ultimate goal.

The Lady Cougars swept Windsor Academy Tuesday in a semifinal series to advance to Saturday’s state championship. Piedmont will travel to Macon for the title series, which will be played at Mercer University.

On Tuesday, coach Colt Spivey’s team earned a 6-4 win in eight innings and then took an 8-7 victory in game two on a walk off double from Haley Ann Frank.

“It was a great series,” Spivey said. “It was another step for this team. We were challenged in the semifinals but we responded as we have all season.”

Windsor gave Piedmont perhaps its toughest game during the regular season and battled the Lady Cougars in both contests Tuesday.

Neely Bradford earned the win in the first semifinal contest while Maddie Morton was the winner in game two.

Piedmont, who is now 17-1 overall, will play Briarwood Academy Saturday in a best-of-three series for the GISA Class AA softball championship. Game one will be at 10 a.m. with game two at 1 p.m. A third game, if necessary, would also be Saturday at 4 p.m.

The Lady Cougars, who are on a 17-game winning streak, played Briarwood once during the regular season earning a 7-0 win. The Lady Buccaneers defeated Robert Toombs in the other semifinal series.

Piedmont’s coach said he believes the tough semifinal games should benefit his team in the championship.

Spivey’s team opened state play by sweeping Citizens Christian 11-1 and 14-0 in the quarterfinals Saturday at home.

In the quarterfinal series, Bradford earned the win in the 11-1 victory with eight strikeouts. Bradford also helped lead the offense along with Cassidy Cook and Ava Anglin. All three had two hits. Cook, Anglin and Madison Johnson each drove in three runs.

Frank drew two walks while Hailey Hooper and Anglin both walked once.

Piedmont jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first inning and then added five more runs in the bottom of the second and two more in the third inning. Citizens Christian scored its lone run in the top of the fourth inning.

In game two, Johnson had four hits for the Lady Cougars while Bradford and Cook both had three. Frank and Bradford both drove in four runs while Morton had two RBI.

Lucy Tuggle, Frank and Hooper each drew a walk as Piedmont led 8-0 after three innings and then put six more runs on the scoreboard in the fifth inning.

Morton earned the win striking out four batters and allowing just three hits.