It wasn’t much of an exaggeration that last Wednesday’s game against Locust Grove had very heavy postseason implications for the Lady Greyhounds. While a loss would have placed Jones County in position of needing some help to get into one of the region’s four playoff spots, a win would have given JCHS the upper hand.
The Lady Greyhounds delivered in a big way through an offensive explosion, ripping the visiting Wildcats for 10 runs on 11 hits in a 10-2 win. The victory essentially moves Jones County into a tie for fourth place with Locust Grove as the Lady Hounds are 8-4 in the region with the Wildcats being 8-5.
“If we lose that, we are pretty much out of the picture. We talked to the girls about taking care of business, that way you can control your own destiny. Someone else can’t do it for you,” Lady Greyhounds head coach Tripp Burt said. “They did a good job of playing with more intensity and playing good softball.”
That means that – should JCHS beat every team below it in the standings and Locust Grove does not beat any team above it – that the Lady Hounds would get into the postseason by way of a head-to-head tiebreaker with Locust Grove.
Jones County wraps up a four-game non-region swing on Saturday against West Laurens and North Oconee at GCSU before hosting ELCA and Union Grove next Tuesday and Wednesday. Jones County fell 8-0 Monday to unbeaten Eastside.
“Our region, it’s one where you still have to take care of what you can take care of,” Burt said. “If we play like we did last week, that will carry us into the postseason.”
The Lady Greyhounds jumped on the visiting Wildcats early Wednesday, going up 5-0 through two innings. That was plenty of cushion for pitcher Ansley Pegg, who held Locust Grove to three hits and two runs with single runs being surrendered in the third and fifth innings.
JCHS had no such offensive trouble on Wednesday, scoring runs in all five frames, starting with two in the first and three in the second following by two in third and fourth and one more in the fifth.
Pegg helped herself at the plate with her and Kaleigh Scarborough having doubles. The extra-base power went beyond that. Tranasia Parker had a triple and two RBIs. Ensley Barnes’ two-RBI game also included a homer as Genna Maki drove in a pair of runs.
The Lady Hounds began the week with Tuesday’s easy 14-0 road win against Hampton on the road, scoring six runs in the first and second innings. Not only did Cate Downey no-hit the Hornets in a four-inning game, but Barnes terrorized Hampton at the plate with three hits and nine RBIs as she had a double and a homer. JCHS also had hits from Myah Briscoe, Lainey Daugherty, Pegg, Allie Miller, Addyson Deason and Jade Coleman.
