On one hand, there’s a degree of disappointment for the Lady Greyhounds, who suffered their first loss of the season 12-10 last Wednesday to Social Circle. But there’s also the big picture of the region standings, a place where Jones County took care of business in dominant fashion.
With a 12-0 win against Woodland and a 25-9 pasting of Stockbridge, the Lady Hounds stayed unbeaten in region play, setting up Wednesday of this week’s game against Ola for sole possession of first place. Both teams began the week unbeaten in region play.
“All of our goals are still in front of us and we’re still in the driver’s seat in the region,” Lady Greyhounds head coach Tripp Burt said.
Jones County (11-1 overall, 8-0 in region play), jumped on the Wolfpack early in the win over Woodland, pushing six runs across in the first inning before a pair of runs in the second and four more in the fifth during a game in which Woodland was held to a pair of hits. The Lady Hounds actually trailed 8-7 through two innings against Stockbridge, but that margin was shortlived thanks to a 16-run third inning.
Sandwiched between those two games was Wednesday against Social Circle, a team that’s no stranger to contending for a spot in Columbus for the Elite 8 each October. The Redskins have had wins this year against Ola and North Oconee. The Lady Hounds put themselves in a hole by surrendering multiple unearned runs by way of a handful of fielding errors.
“We made a lot of mistakes, gave them a lot of runs. When you’re undefeated, there’s a lot of pressure on you, and you start pressing,” Burt said. “We let it get to us a little bit, made a few mistakes and gave them a few runs. Those are things that normally don’t happen.”
The Lady Hounds fought to the end, managing to give themselves a chance in the end, loading the bases in the game’s final two innings.
“Our girls have a lot of fight and heart. That’s something we cannot teach,” Burt said. “They’ve got that within them.”
