BUFORD — Buford opened defense of its Class AAAA girls state softball title with a dominating first round sweep of Woodward Academy Wednesday at home.
Sophomore Logan Caymol and senior Peyton Wolfe combined to allow just one hit while striking out a combined six batters in leading the Lady Wolves to easy victories, 18-0 in three innings in Game 1 and 13-0 in four innings in Game 2.
Meanwhile, the Buford offense, which had been struggling down the stretch, pounded out 34 hits in the combined seven innings.
Caymol got the win in Game 1 pitching a no-hitter with three strikeouts. The Lady Wolves wasted little time getting going scoring four runs in the first inning and then put the game out of reach with a 14-run, 14-hit explosion in the second inning.
Senior Drew Puckett had three hits, two RBI, and scored three runs to lead the offense. Junior Samantha Thomas, Biz Walters, and Gabby Benson each had two hits and two RBI for Buford and the trio combined to score eight runs.
In Game 2, Wolfe earned her 14th victory of the year while Thomas powered the offensive attack with her 14th and 15th home runs of the year.
Buford again started quickly with a 10-run first inning. Thomas doubled, homered, and scored two runs in the inning. Thomas finished with three hits and four RBI and freshman Shea Bayreuther had two hits, one RBI, and scored twice for the Lady Wolves.
Senior Breanna Gutierrez had two hits, one RBI, and scored twice, and senior Baylee Sexton had a three-run triple in the first inning.
Buford next will take on Thomas County Central in the second round on Wednesday at home. It will be a rematch of last year's Class AAAA state title game.
It was a good day overall for Region 8-AAAA, which had three teams advance to the second round. North Oconee, the fourth seed from 8-AAAA, took down Region 5-AAAA champ Carrollton on Wednesday, 7-2 and 7-6 on the road.
