Lady Cougars Fall To John Milledge

The Piedmont Academy varsity fast-pitch softball team hosted John Milledge Academy for Senior Night on Tuesday and the Lady Cougars did not obtain the outcome they were hoping for.

The Lady Trojans took an 8-1 win pounding out 14 hits in the process. Piedmont, meanwhile, was limited to two hits.

With the teams tied 1-1 after the first inning, John Milledge would score five runs in the top of the second and add three more in the third. The Lady Trojans also added runs in the fourth and seventh innings.

Haley Ann Frank drew a pair of walks for the Lady Cougars.

Emily McEwen worked the first five innings in the pitcher’s circle before Abby Arnold pitched the last two frames. Both had one strikeout in Tuesday’s contest.

Piedmont senior players Madison Johnson and Aubrey Crowe were both recognized for their contributions to the program.

Piedmont’s fast-pitch team will enter the state playoffs as a number one seed and receive a bye in the opening round. The Lady Cougars finished tied with LaGrange Academy for first in the region standings but instead of a one-game playoff the teams were declared co-champions.

Coach Joe Johnson said he would have liked to have had a one-game playoff for a true region champion (this was done by the GISA in other regions) and was surprised when he was informed there would not be a tie-breaker game.

The coach said since LaGrange was actually going to compete in the Class A state playoff bracket then apparently the GISA decided not to have the one-game playoff.

“We would like to have played,” Johnson said. “They beat us once but we were dealing with a lot that day. It was the second day of school and our trip got detoured. It really turned into a nightmare. We did much better the second time we played them.”

The Lady Cougars will travel to Brentwood in Sandersville Thursday for a 5 p.m. contest to close out the regular season.