Columbus Wins It In Last At-Bat

Columbus, GA - The Blue Devils hoped it would be a long day, and they waited to the very last inning to finish it. Playing out of the losers’ bracket in Region 2 AAA tournament, Columbus beat Shaw 9-3 in extra innings to advance to the Championship Game to face Northside who had yet to lose.

Game One, senior pitcher Chandler Padgett was almost unhittable, striking out 11 as Columbus wins 1-0 to force a decisive game two for the title.

Northside jumped out to 2-0 lead on Padgett who pitched 14 innings on Wednesday. Down 2-1 in the 5th, the Patriots Carson King hit a solo homerun to center field to give Northside a 3-1 lead. “I thought we could come back,“ Padgett said. “But I didn’t get down after the homerun.“

Down 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh, with bases loaded a grounder to second sent Ragean Gales racing home, a hard slide, shook the ball lose to tie the game at 3. The Patriots walked Padgett on four pitches to bring junior outfielder Danyelle Glover to the plate with one out and bases loaded. “I was just trying to hit it hard,“ Glover said.

She hit a deep shot to center, deep enough to plate Amanda Stuckey and propel Columbus to one of the top seeds in the GHSA playoffs.

“If it was a sac fly, that was fine, I was just trying to hit hard somewhere,“ Glover said.

“Our seniors came through with back to back hits and I am so proud of them,“ Padgett said. Asked if her arm was sore after 14 innings of work, she laughed and said, it actually feels pretty good, winning will make you a little less sore.