Softball enters conference tournament as No. 6 seed

The Georgia College softball team entered its April 7 doubleheader against USC Aiken needing two wins to secure a spot in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament. The Bobcats did just that, rallying twice to sweep the Pacers, 6-5 and 2-1 to keep their season alive and punch their ticket to this weekend’s tournament, which will be hosted by No. 1 seed North Georgia. A doubleheader sweep had eluded the Bobcats all season, but with their backs against the wall, they got the job done when it mattered most.

“We came through when it was clutch time,” senior rightfielder Kati Pickowitz said. “Everything finally came together for us.”

Head Coach Jamie Grodecki said the sweep was the mark of a vastly improved team from the early part of the season.

“Overall our pitching has settled in and gotten more consistent, and on the offensive end, our hitters are finding a way to get runs across instead of leaving runners on base,” Grodecki said. “We’ve managed to stay in every game mostly since the middle of the season, and we’ve gotten a lot of wins in the last couple of innings.”

Down 4-1 in the fifth in game one, the Bobcats staged their first rally of the day. With one out, senior leftfielder Lauren Potts singled and advanced to third on freshman centerfielder Whitney Okvist’s double. A single by freshman third baseman Lindsey Conway scored Potts, and junior catcher Anna Parker followed with an RBI single to cut the lead to 4-3. After senior second baseman Brandie Monroe drew a walk, junior first baseman Shalisa Shirley had an RBI single to tie the game.

Then Pickowitz came through, scorching a two-run double to put Georgia College ahead 6-4, a lead they would not relinquish.

Freshman Chelsie Huffman picked up the win in relief, allowing only one Pacer to cross home plate in 3.1 innings of work.

Game two was more of a pitchers’ duel, and junior Haley Burnett shined for Georgia College.

In a phenomenal performance, Burnett pitched the final six innings in relief and allowed only one unearned run on five hits to pick up her second win of the year.

With the Bobcats trailing 1-0 in the fourth, Parker and Burnett led off with back-to-back singles, and both advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Monroe. Pickowitz’s infield single later in the inning knotted the score at 1-1.

With the game still tied in the top of the seventh, junior shortstop Corby Holmes and Potts led off the inning reaching on errors by USC Aiken. After a sacrifice bunt by Okvist moving the runners up, Conway reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring Holmes and setting the Bobcats up for the win.

“I’m really proud of everyone,” Burnett said. “We came together and got it done when we needed to. The whole team helped out.”

The Bobcats will enter the double-elimination conference tournament April 15 to 17 as the No. 6 seed in the tournament and will most likely play their first game at 1:30 p.m. on Friday against No. 3 seed Columbus State.

Win or lose, they will play at again at 6:30 against the winner or loser of No. 2 Armstrong Atlantic and No. 7 USC Aiken.

Georgia College (14-33, 9-11 PBC) won the tournament back in 2009 and are making their first trip back since. This time, they’re the underdog, but they aren’t fazed at all.

“I think we have just as good of a chance as anybody at winning it, especially with the way the conference is right now,” said Pickowitz, a starter on the 2009 team. “This year would be a great year for us to win because things have been clicking for us the last couple of weeks.”

“I think it can happen. Anything can happen on a weekend,” Grodecki said. You never know who’s going to show up, and who’s not. Being the underdog is not a bad thing. I think it will help our kids be more relaxed. We’re going to go there with nothing to lose and take care of business hopefully.”

Posted by Scotty Thompson on Apr 14 2011. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.