CARTERSVILLE — Second-seed Cartersville escaped with a 3-2 victory in Game 1 and followed with an 11-0 shutout in Game 2 to oust 31st-seed Ware County here Wednesday in the first round of the Class 5A state tournament.
The Lady Purple Hurricanes (28-2), the topranked team in the final regular season poll, extended their winning streak to 19 games with the October 14 sweep of the Lady Gators (13-17), who entered having won five of their last six games.
Ware County has lost in the first round each of the last three seasons since a runner-up finish in the 2023 Super Regional setup.
Cartersville will host 18th-seed Blessed Trinity in the second round. The Lady Titans knocked off 15th-seed Dutchtown in a two-game sweep winning 15-0 and 12-4.
Third-ranked and thirdseed Region 1 champion Wayne County eliminated visiting 30th-seed Jackson- Atlanta winning 15-0 and 17-0. The Lady Yellow Jackets will host 19th-seed Villa Rica, which turned back 14th-seed Whitewater by the scores of 16-1 and 6-1.
Statesboro, seeded 20th, was blanked by 13th-seed Jefferson falling 6-0 and 15-0. The Lady Dragons advance to face fourth-seed Cambridge, which knocked out 29th-seed Allatoona 10-1 and 17-2.
Game 1
No. 2 Cartersville .....3
No. 31 Lady Gators...2
The Lady Purple Hurricanes scored single runs in the first, third and fifth and held on with Ware County getting solo homers in the sixth and seventh innings from Teriayn Kirkland and Mattie Forsyth.
Kirkland (1-for-3) hit a two-out, solo homer, her team-leading sixth of the year, in the sixth breaking up Cartersville’s Zoie Shiflett’s (7 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 8 K, 1 BB) no-hit bid. Shiflett, who threw just 75 pitches, had retired 14 consecutive batters after walking Kara Coleman to start the second inning.
Forsyth (1-for-2) hit her second homer of the season off a 0-2 offering for Shiflett with two outs in the seventh.
The Lady Purple Hurricanes struck for a first inning run against Kirkland (3 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 K, 3 BB) on a two-out base hit. A leadoff walk was followed by a sacrifice bunt. Following the second out, Allana Williams (2-for-4) stroked a 2-0 pitch to right scoring Izzy Tummin (1for-3).
Cartersville opened the second with consecutive hits by Shiflett (1-for-3) and Williams putting runners on the corners. Shiflett’s courtesy runner, Sam Evans, tagged and scored on Avaree Sellers sacrifice fly to center for a 2-0 lead.
Sophia Harper (2-for-2) kept the the Lady Purple Hurricanes’ fifth inning alive with a two-out single off Reagan Middleton (3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 K, 1 BB). Harper stole second and scored on Sam Porter’s (1-for-3) ensuing single to right.
Game 2
No. 2 Cartersville .............................................11
No. 31 Lady Gators ............................................0
Cartersville plated five runs in the third inning to break away from a scoreless tie and Presley Crabbe tossed a fiveinning no-hitter en route to the victory over the Lady Gators in the nightcap.
Sellers (2-for-3) got the rally started against Kirkland (3 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 1 K, 0 BB, 1 HBP) with a one-out single.
That was followed by a run-scoring double, a run-scoring three-base error and a run-scoring single for a 3-0 advantage. A two-out, three-base error scored the fourth run with a passed ball allowing the final run to cross the plate.
A leadoff error came home to roost in the top of the fourth on a two-out, bloop single to center.
The Lady Purple Hurricanes put the game away scoring five runs in the top of the fifth. A one-out double by Harper scored the first two runs upping the margin to 80. Another run scored on an error with the final two runs crossing the plate on a two-out, two-run homer.
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