Region 7-AAA tourney up for grabs

GAINESVILLE - North Hall girls softball coach Roger Fannon last week said he was ready to get on with the real season.

It's finally here as the Region 7-AAA Tournament gets under beginning Tuesday at Lanier Point Softball Complex. The round-robin tournament runs through Saturday's finals.

The action begins at 4:30 p.m. with East Hall playing Gilmer; White County playing Gainesville; Johnson playing Fannin County and last year's two region tournament finalist - Chestatee and West Hall - playing at 4:30 p.m.

North Hall and Pickens, the Nos. 1 and 2 seeded teams, get first round byes.

Fannon's Trojans swept through the regular season with a perfect 10-0 record, including a thrilling 6-5, come-from-behind win over Pickens County and arguably the state's best player in Whitney Propes.

But he said he knows the favorite doesn't always come out of a tournament.

"Chestatee won (the region tournament) last year but didn't make it out of the sectionals so you can't take anything for granted," Fannon said. "We'll be ready. I like the way we're playing."

North Hall is led Haley Bower, who beat both Chestatee and Pickens on the mound.

Chestatee coach Devin Thomas said they were ready to defend their region title. They almost rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the seventh inning against Pickens in the War Eagles' final game. They lost 3-2 with the tying run thrown out at the plate.

Thomas said they especially would like to avenge a 9-0 loss to North Hall midway through the season.

"I don't know what happened that day. They played real well and we played our worst game of the year. But I think it would be different now," Thomas said. "We're playing our best ball right now."

Chestatee senior Brooke Puckett, who signed with North Georgia last week, said at the signing she wanted North Hall.

"They caught us on a bad day. I guarantee it would be different if we played again," she said. "We should've beaten Pickens and I know we can beat North Hall. I would love to repeat as champions in my last year here."

The tournament is up for grabs, despite North Hall's Class AAA No. 3 ranking and Pickens being No. 4. Chestatee is ranked seventh, Flowery Branch ninth and West Hall was ranked at one point during the season.

"It should be a great tournament," Fannon said. "I feel like we have the best team but if any one team gets hot, I think about five teams have a real shot at it."