ACE, FPD offenses soar as softball season begins in Macon

The ACE Gryphons continued their hot start on the softball diamond Monday night, fighting a tough battle against Crawford County early before pulling away to a 17-5 win in the final innings of a game that narrowly escaped incoming storms.

With the American flag ironed out toward right field and a rainbow springing up over the treeline past the outfield fence, the weather was scenic but threatening. The only rain on the field that night was a torrent of runs from the Gryphons, however.

Junior catcher Reese Thames led the way with a two-run homer in the fifth inning that put a damper on the Eagles’ hopes and opened the door for a big ACE rally late. The Gryphons scored 11 runs in the final two innings alone.

“We had some fun tonight,” ACE Head Coach and Athletic Director Josh McLendon said. “This was a big breakout game for Reese, so I’m really proud of her effort. She’s been starting since she was a freshman, and she’s got the potential to be a game-changer for us, and she did that tonight.”

The Gryphons started the contest down 3-0 after the first two innings, but got within one run in the third inning before scoring four, four and seven runs in each of the last three innings. 

The four runs in the fifth were the real spark plug, as Avery Stone tied the game with an RBI hit, then boldly stole home plate to give ACE the lead.

“I’m really proud of Avery Stone, she hurt her finger early in the game, and I kind of challenged her to be tough and fight through it,” McLendon said. “She did fight for it. She kept playing, and that steal of home was incredibly awesome to see, and that was really a momentum changer for us where we kind of seized control of the game.”

While the offense shined, ACE pitcher Avery Edalgo performed well on the mound, pitching six innings and holding Crawford County to five runs. Three of those runs came in the second inning to put the Gryphons in a hole, but Edalgo kept working until ACE got back into the game.

“Avery’s gritty, she’s gonna get out there and give you everything she’s got. Tonight she had to battle, and sometimes it doesn’t come easy. Where you really show what you’re made of is on those nights it doesn’t come easy,” McLendon said. “She did that tonight and kept her composure.”

The game was only a blowout late, though. Both teams played well early, doubling off runners in the first. Crawford County pitcher Bailey Phillips notched two strikeouts in the second to keep it scoreless.

Crawford County struck first in the bottom half of the second, scoring three runs to take an early lead.

Crawford County’s shutout didn’t last long — Laney Bridges laced one to right field in the third inning, and as soon as an Eagles outfielder misplayed the liner, Bridges was off to the races and didn’t stop till she crossed the plate, scoring the Gryphons’ first run on an inside-the-parker.

Another run crossed the plate on a wild pitch later in the frame, cutting Crawford County’s lead to 3-2 entering the bottom of the third.

The dam broke in the fifth inning. After Stone drove in the tying run with a hit and swiped home on the next at-bat to give ACE the lead in electrifying fashion, the big blow came from Thames — a two-run blast just left of straightaway center field, making the score 6-3 and chasing Phillips from the game.

Though Crawford County put up some fight late with a few more runs, ACE pulled away in the final stretch, scoring seven in the last frame to eventually take home the 17-5 win.

FPD offense explodes in clash with Howard

The First Presbyterian Day Vikings provided fireworks of their own from the batter’s box, scoring 20 runs in three frames to claim a victory over the Howard Huskies Tuesday evening.

The offensive output as a team was impressive enough, but Vikings sophomore center fielder Jessica Jones stole the show with three home runs across the three-inning contest.

As Jones clutched her three home run balls and posed for a photo next to the field after the game, FPD head coach Shaun Bridger glowed.

“We knew it was only a matter of time before (Jones) got her first home run, but she just so happened to get her first, second and third one all today,” Bridger said. “She’s been working hard in practice, and she comes every day ready to work. Super proud of her.”

The first-year head coach has had no shortage of offense in his inaugural season thus far. Hannah Davis and Lyric Jones, the latter an eighth-grade player, hit long balls of their own, continuing the Vikings’ prolific output at the dish in the young season.

“Well, in our first game we scored 13 home runs and hit four home runs, and today we scored 20 runs and hit five home runs,” Bridger said. “Hopefully tomorrow they come to practice tomorrow ready to work hard, that’s all it is.”

Gracyn Fuller pitched well in the abbreviated game as well, striking out six Huskies. Howard fought hard after going down big early, though, showing plate discipline and strong base-running as they scored four runs in the third inning.

“One thing about our girls is, they never get down. They know we got beat, but they’re still upbeat. They know today’s another game,” Howard Head Coach Danny Slaughter said. “We’ll keep working hard and get back at it tomorrow.”

The Huskies had a tough game from all angles, as one of their strongest hitters, Abby Hardy, went down with injury while warming up before the contest even began.

“It hurts when a lot of things stack up, like our best hitter getting injured in pregame, which hurts us. Obviously it didn’t hurt us to the tune of that many runs, but it doesn’t help,” Slaughter said. “We’ll bounce back and keep playing hard.”

The game also acted as a coaching opportunity.

“We learned, and I remind them, that if we put the ball on the ground, things can happen. Just putting it in play things can happen, we just have to make better contact. That’s a big improvement area for us,” Slaughter said. “They have some really strong pitching, but we still have to keep working on that stuff. This game lets us look at our team and helps us improve.”

On the schedule

The biggest game on the horizon is Thursday night’s matchup between Tattnall and Westfield at 6:30 p.m. The schools field two of the strongest teams in Middle Georgia. FPD hosts Gatewood at 5 p.m. as well, while CFCA travels to face John Milledge in Milledgeville at 4:30 p.m. Rutland faces Northside at 5 p.m. Thursday. Howard also travels to play a double-header, one game against Northside at 3 p.m. and another against Peach County at 6 p.m., in Fort Valley Saturday.

Many of the Bibb County schools don’t play until next week. Northeast plays Peach County Monday at 6:30 p.m., then play at Southwest Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. Central and Westside clash Tuesday at the Seminoles’ place at 4:30 p.m.

Other scores

Saturday, Aug. 3

•Southwest Georgia Academy 4, Stratford 1

• ACE 5, Jeff Davis High School 3

Monday, Aug. 5

• ACE 17, Crawford County 5

Tuesday, Aug. 6

• Stratford 11, Gatewood 3

• FPD 20, Howard 4

• Tattnall 14, George Walton Academy 6

Wednesday, Aug. 7

• Peach County 13, Howard 1