COLUMBUS, Ga. - For the second time in the last three postseason softball games, the seventh inning wasn't kind to the Ringgold Lady Tigers.
Ringgold allowed a two-out unearned run in the seventh, then the game-winning run without giving up a hit in the eighth in a 2-1 loss to West Laurens in the Georgia Class AAA tournament Thursday. Ringgold now has to do its work in the losers bracket, beginning this morning at 9 against Perry.
"We played hard and faced a good pitcher," said Ringgold coach Rachel Hodge, referring to West Laurens' ace Mallory Riner. "I don't have any negatives to say about the game, but we have to get over the seventh-inning hump, and I believe we will. I've been in this same exact position before having to come all the way back through the losers bracket, and I believe this team can do it. I'm looking forward to playing a lot more games tomorrow."
The Lady Tigers (21-15) broke a scoreless tie with a run in the sixth thanks to the speed of leadoff hitter Adrian Thornton. She beat out an infield hit , stole third after being sacrificed to second and scored on a wild pitch. However, with two out in the seventh and West Laurens' Rachel Gibbs on second, an infield hit and an error brought in the tying run.
Ringgold had runners on third and second with one out in the eighth, but Riner retired Allie Baker on a strikeout and Ericka Bynum on a foul pop. In the bottom half, Faith Flanders scored the game-winner on a wild pitch.
"We have to have a lot of heart to come back," Bynum said. "Once you're down it takes a lot to get back up, but we can do it. We have to forget about this game and get the next one. We should have won that game, but we had a bad moment. We'll do better tomorrow."