ACE softball falls to Banks County in playoffs to end season

ACE had its softball season come to an end at home Wednesday night, as the No. 10 Banks County Leopards defeated the No. 7 Gryphons 1-0 and 12-4 to sweep their second-round matchup in the GHSA Class A-Division I state tournament.

Head coach Andrew Claxton, in his first year at the helm for ACE, commended his players on an impressive season in which the Gryphons won the Region 2 championship over rival East Laurens and won a playoff series over Berrien County.

“I think we established a culture my first year here with these girls. That’s what we’re trying to do going forward,” Claxton said. “It was definitely a really successful year.”

The first game of the series, a 1-0 loss for the Gryphons despite Giselle Giles’ stellar pitching performance, was the fourth consecutive one-run playoff game for ACE after a barnburner three-game series against Berrien in the first round. The team showed its wear in the second tilt of the day, allowing the Banks County lineup to tag them for 12 runs in a mercy rule loss.

“Right, it does wear on you. We preached it all year, though, and we scouted this team really hard. You saw it in that first game, that’s why we get games like that,” Claxton said of the first game of the series. “We were ready for ‘em, but we just couldn’t get the big time hit and just kind of ran out of gas at the end.”

It was a bittersweet ending for ACE’s senior class — the Gryphons had a particularly large and meaningful one stacked with players like Avery Stone, Reese Thames, Sophie Denney, Ella Allen, Ava Allen and Kinsley Lineberger.

“I told ‘em, I’ve been doing this for a while, and this is by far the best year I’ve ever had. Those seniors are so much fun,” Claxton said. “Those girls have accomplished so much, not just on the softball field but academically. Softball is temporary. The attitude, the way they go about things? Their future’s bright.”

Claxton praised the entire team, which he thinks will bounce back and have another banner season next year. After all, the Gryphons lost impact players like Laney Bridges, Madisyn Hallar and the Yates twins — Karlee and Karsyn — after last season and still improved enough to win a region title. Key contributors like Giles, Avery Edalgo, Sydney Collins and others will return next season more experienced.

“Talent takes you so far, but the rest of it is grit, perseverance and pushing through. That’s what these seniors have taught the younger girls,” Claxton said. “They have that valuable experience now, and there will be seniors to lead the way next year. It’s something where you keep rotating and moving forward.

“You have to give a shoutout to the parents, the school, the staff. They’re a big reason for that progress, too.”

Game recaps

The first game was the polar opposite of last week’s shootout series with Berrien County, as Giles and Gaylor were both in the zone from the circle. The Leopards managed to hit a bit better than the Gryphons early — ACE did not get its first hit until the fifth — but it was a 0-0 game through four innings and looked like it could stay that way for a while.

That said, it felt like the first team to find a way to score would have all the momentum, and Banks County broke through first. In the top of the fifth, Marley McDaniel doubled and eventually scored on a base hit from Gaylor, who helped herself out.

Despite a stellar effort by Giles — she also tried to give herself a boost at the dish, as the pitcher snagged one of ACE’s two hits — the Gryphons could not muster any offense in the final frames. Banks County pulled away for the 1-0 win to take the lead in the series.

The Gryphons refused to start Game 2 on the same track. Stone started the game with a hit and scored on a crucial two-run homer from Collins that put a charge into the ACE bench and got the crowd involved again.

The Gryphons added on with one run in both the second and third innings on RBIs from Thames and Giles, taking a 4-0 lead and commanding the momentum.

Banks County out together a significant rally in the bottom of the third, though, getting a three-run tank shot from Tylee Strickland to cut the deficit to one before Gaylor tied it with an RBI single.

The offensive outburst did not stop there. The Leopards continued their surge the next inning with four more runs, a rally capped by a two-run triple off the bat of Gaylor, who stood screaming and dapping up her coach on third after the clutch hit.

A three-run fifth inning kept the train moving and more or less sealed the deal, giving Banks County an 11-4 lead that they did not relinquish. A sac fly in the bottom of the sixth made it 12-4, giving the Leopards the “walk-off” on a mercy-rule technicality.