DAHLONEGA -- Three of the top four seeds in Region 7-AAA advanced to the state tournament after getting big wins on Wednesday in the region tournament.
Now all that remains to be seen is in which order Creekview, Lumpkin County, West Hall and White County will head to state.
Creekview and West Hall advanced in the winner's bracket taking close wins. Creekview held off Lumpkin County 6-5 and West Hall edged West Forsyth 1-0 to advance in games played at the Lumpkin County Recreational Complex.
Lumpkin County and White County rebounded with wins in the elimination bracket to advance. The Lady Indians nipped Flowery Branch 2-1 while White County knocked off No. 2 seed West Forsyth 5-2 in the other elimination game.
The tournament was moved from Lanier Pointe Softball Complex in Gainesville after rains earlier in the week left two fields unplayable. The tournament will return to Lanier Pointe Thursday with Creekview playing West Hall for a spot in the finals and Lumpkin County taking on White County in an elimination game.
The loser of the Lumpkin Couny-White County game will be the fourth seed from 7-AAA.
For West Hall coach Warren Sellers, whose Lady Spartans will be heading to their sixth consecutive state tournament, the win capped one of his most satisfying seasons.
"We had a ton of question marks coming into the year and knew we would have to rely on a lot of young, first-time varsity players," he said. "They worked hard all season and improved every week and have really played two outstanding games overall (in the tournament)."
West Hall's only run came in the top of the sixth inning on a West Forsyth error. The Lady Spartans' Miranda Miller held off the Lady Wolverines the rest of the way finishing with a complete-game, one-hitter to earn the win.
West Hall managed just four hits - one each from Victoria Tuttle, Emily Hammond, Morgan Strickland, and Kristen Bryan - but the defense did not make any costly mistakes behind Miller.
White County had to survive an eight-inning scare from ninth-seeded Gilmer in the elimination bracket to stay alive and then played perhaps its best game of the tournament against West Forsyth to advance.
"We did not play well against Gilmer, but give them credit," White County coach John Brown said. "But we played a tremendous game against West Forsyth. (Junior pitcher) Stephanie Satterfield was outstanding. Hopefully we can get another effort like that (Thursday)."
Flowery Branch had dropped into the elimination round following a 5-1 loss to West Hall on Tuesday.
The Lady Falcons began Wednesday's play winning a 1-0 nailbiter over North Hall but could not hold off Lumpkin County.
Flowery Branch coach Valerie Lancaster said it was a tough way to end a solid season.
"We finished above .500 and we have most of the team coming back next year so we feel good about where we are," she said. "We played very well today. If we had played Tuesday against West Hall like we did today, things would have been different. We just couldn't get any hits when we needed them. That was the difference."
Monday
May 19th, 2025
3:01AM
