COLUMBUS — It wasn’t easy but Buford advanced to the semifinals of the Class AAAA state softball tournament Thursday at the Olympic Softball Complex in Columbus.
The Lady Wolves opened the tournament with a nail-biting 2-1 win over Wayne County and then held on for a slim 2-0 victory over Veterans in the second round of the double-elimination format. Veterans advanced to the second round with a 1-0 win over North Oconee in its opening game.
Buford, which ran its postseason winning streak to 37 games with the wins, next will take on Heritage, Catoosa at 7 p.m. Friday with the winner advancing to the final round. Heritage, Catoosa beat Walnut Grove 4-2 in a battle of the top two teams in Class AAAA in its opening game and then knocked off West Laurens 5-4 in the second round.
In the first game, Logan Caymol (8-1) went the distance fanning 11 with one walk and four hits and the one run was unearned. Baylee Sexton, Breanna Gutierrez, and Mariah Wicker each had one hit for Buford.
Wayne County took a 1-0 lead after the fifth inning but the Lady Wolves tied the game when Wicker scored on an error in the top of the sixth. Buford was able to push across the winning run in the seventh on two more Wayne County errors.
In the second game, Kennedy Kotula got the win for Buford and the Lady Wolves got both of their runs in the first inning on a pair of two-out, solo home runs by Samantha Thomas and Kotula and made it stand up. Kotula tossed a complete game scattering two hits and struck out three and walked one.
In other action for area teams, East Jackson fell 12-0 to Calhoun in the opening game of the Class AAA tournament and will take on Franklin County, which lost 6-4 to Blessed Trinity, in an elimination game at 11 a.m. Friday.
In Class AA, Union County was whipped by Gordon Lee 12-2 in the opening game. The Lady Panthers next will face Seminole County, which lost 5-3 to Bryan County, in an elimination game at 9 a.m. Friday.
