ACE and Macon’s private schools ready for softball tournaments

The softball playoff field is finally set, and several Macon teams are in the hunt in both the GHSA and GIAA state tournaments as they begin Wednesday and Thursday.

The ACE Gryphons were the lone public school in Macon to secure a playoff spot, as they won the region championship in Region 2-A Division I with a region record of 17-1 and overall record of 21-9. They are the No. 7 seed in the bracket, the lowest ranked of the region champions in the classification.

Regardless, ACE gets home field advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs, including its first-round matchup against No. 26 Berrien County. 

The Gryphons have a balanced lineup that can score in a variety of ways, as players across the batting order regularly put the ball in play and get knocks. Avery Stone is a key piece of the lineup with a .500 batting average from the leadoff spot. Sophie Denney, Sydney Collins and Reese Thames all anchor the heart of the order after Stone with batting averages over .400.

In the circle, Giselle Giles has been a revelation for ACE. The pitcher has tossed crucial innings down the stretch, including five innings of two-run ball in the Gryphons’ de facto region title game against East Laurens. She hurled 4 and 2/3 innings in their very next game, another crucial showdown with region opponent Dublin.

Pitchers Avery Edalgo and Ella Allen also step up regularly, often in relief of Giles.

Berrien County looks like an easier opponent at first glance with an overall record of 10-20 and a 6-12 region mark good for fifth in Region 1 in the regular season, but the team hailing from Nashville, Georgia — that’s about two hours south of Macon via Interstate 75 — should not be taken lightly.

The Rebels were in a stacked region in Class A-Division I, grouped with some top-tier teams including Bacon County, Brantley County and Jeff Davis, among others. 

Berrien County did struggle against those top programs. The Rebels went 1-11 against the top four but kept it close with Bacon County — the eventual region champions and the No. 4 seed in the tournament — on multiple occasions, including a 2-1 loss back in August in the second leg of a doubleheader.

Cacie Hale is the star of the show for the Rebels with a .380 batting average through 80 plate appearances with a .930 OPS. She is also the team’s top pitcher, throwing more than 106 innings with a 3.95 ERA and an even more impressive 1.48 Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched.

The Rebels also have two other players hitting over .300 with nearly 100 plate appearances. 

The best-of-three series begins with a doubleheader Wednesday with the first game at 4 p.m. and the second at 6 p.m. If the two squads split the first two games, the winner-take-all Game 3 will begin at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

Should ACE defeat the Rebels, it will be at home again and face the winner of No. 10 Banks County and No. 23 Chattooga.

The only other GHSA school with a fighting chance at a playoff spot in Macon was Central, which finished its campaign 11-13 with an 8-10 region record. The Chargers missed the postseason by one rank, finishing 32nd in the Post Season Rankings but getting bumped out because Putnam County, a fourth-place region finisher with a 4-15 record, had an automatic playoff berth.

FPD wins region, earns No. 3 spot

Three Macon teams secured spots in the GIAA Class 4A state tournament, with two teams earning seeds in the Top 5.

FPD won District 6 with a 19-3 overall record and 8-2 record in region play, good enough to be ranked the No. 3 team in Class 4A, according to the GIAA’s MaxPreps system. 

While they won’t get homefield advantage in the literal sense — the GIAA holds its tournament in Columbus across three days from Thursday to Saturday — the Vikings will get the last at-bat privileges in their first round game against No. 6 Loganville Christian.

FPD found its stride offensively in the stretch run of the season, scoring nine runs or more in its final 11 games in a row. That prolific offense is led by players like Addison Arnold, Ava Spillers and perhaps most importantly the twins Lyric and Jessica Jones at the top of the order.

The Vikings’ pitching is not so multi-faceted, as star player Gracyn Fuller — also a solid contributor on offense — has been the undisputed ace of the staff. 

Fuller pitched in almost every Vikings game this year and often starts and finishes games. She showed serious grit in FPD’s 11-8 victory over Tattnall, pitching nine innings and finishing off the win even after allowing a Trojans comeback.

The Vikings did not face Loganville Christian during the regular season, but the Lions should be a challenging opponent regardless of FPD’s higher seed. Loganville defeated Tattnall 11-8 back in August and finished the season 13-9.

The two teams meet in the first round at noon Thursday at the South Commons Softball Complex in Columbus.

Tattnall slotted at No. 4

While Tattnall did not win the region championship, it still easily made the playoffs as one of the stronger teams in the classification and will look to repeat after winning the state title in 2024.

The Trojans finished 16-6 overall and matched FPD with an 8-2 record in region play, but the Vikings took the tiebreaker by run differential. 

The strong season was fueled by a high-powered offense led by Anna Still, who hit a whopping .536 through more than 70 plate appearances with six home runs and a 1.509 OPS. Callie Still, Abby Baugh, Reese Covington all chipped in as well with averages over .360 and plenty of pop. Madison Malcolm was also a key difference maker for the Trojans, with the eighth-grader effortlessly hacking varsity pitching for a .429 batting average.

Callie Still led the charge in the circle, pitching more than 90 innings with a 3.02 ERA and 108 strikeouts. Bryton Tarver got the second-largest workload for Tattnall with 27 innings and a 3.88 ERA.

The Trojans did not face Bethlehem Christian in the regular season. The Knights finished their season 16-7 overall and 5-3 in region play, though their hot finish should be noted — Bethlehem notched a 13-3 record over their final 16 games.

The Trojans also begin their postseason campaign at noon Thursday.

Stratford snags final playoff spot

The Stratford Eagles got the toughest draw of all Macon teams, finishing 11-12 overall to get the No. 8 seed to pit them against the bracket’s No. 1 team, Calvary Christian.

The Eagles started the season slow with a very young squad that struggled to score early on, but the team eventually got rolling and even notched some impressive performances, including two wins over John Milledge and a close 7-6 loss to Tattnall. 

Hayden Craddock is a key hitter for the Eagles in the leadoff spot, with Cordtney Galoia and Hatsy Russell also figuring into the heart of the order. Reagan Ray is Stratford’s key pitcher.

The Eagles lost to No. 1 Calvary Christian twice in the regular season, 9-0 and 7-4, though the two contests were earlier in the year. Stratford is used to low seeding, however, as the Eagles made an impressive run in the loser’s bracket last year as the No. 7 team. They came only one game short of the championship.

Windsor earns No. 7 seed

The Windsor Knights had a solid season, finishing the year 9-8 with an impressive 6-0 region record to earn the No. 7 seed in the GIAA Class 2A bracket.

The Knights found their stride on offense this year after finishing with a losing record and missing the playoffs last season. Windsor scored at least three runs in 15 of their 17 games this season, including breaking the double-digit mark on seven different occasions. Sisters Abby and Maddie Price hit very well atop the Knights’ lineup while Sealy Dent anchored things in the three-hole.

Windsor ran into more problems with its pitching. Abby Price started almost every game for the Knights and often gave up high run totals against more talented opponents. Some recent losses came by scores of 7-3, 6-3 and 9-8.

The No. 7 seed in an eight-team bracket is a tough spot, as the Knights will have to face defending state champion Southwest Georgia in the first round Thursday at 10a.m. Windsor did not face any of the top three seeds in Class 2A, though they did play No. 4 Gatewood twice and lost both matchups.

For full coverage of both state softball tournaments, visit maconmelody.com.