NOTEPAD: ACE softball ready for second-round showdown with Jeff Davis, Mercer soccer teams near playoffs

The ACE Gryphons moved on to the second round of the GHSA A-Division I state tournament last week with a win over region foe No. 25 Dublin in a best-of-three series at home.

The Gryphons, one of the stronger teams in the state and second place finishers in Region 2 behind only powerhouse East Laurens, flexed their muscles in two wins over the Fighting Irish. ACE won the first game 10-6 before storming to a 12-0 win to punch its ticket to the second round.

Now the Gryphons face the unfortunate fate of a No. 8 seed: going up against a No. 9 team in the second round. ACE meets Jeff Davis, a team Gryphons head coach Josh McLendon named as one of the toughest outs in the tournament before playoffs began.

It should be an even matchup, with both teams well-rested after a week between games. The Yellow Jackets defeated No. 24 Armuchee 5-0 and 13-0 to get past the opening round. The winner will earn a trip to Columbus to compete for the state title.

ACE gets home field advantage for the double-header, which begins at 5 p.m. Thursday evening. If a Game 3 is necessary, ACE will host the “if-game” at noon Friday.

Howard was the only other Macon GHSA school to make a playoff performance, and the No. 28 Huskies had a tough task traveling to face No. 5 North Hall.

The Huskies lost both games 15-0, as the 18-9 Gainesville squad proved too much for the less-experienced, smaller Howard team. The Huskies finished 13-18 including the two postseason losses, with a 9-4 mark in region play.

GIAA tournament performances

GIAA softball playoffs concluded last weekend and, while Tattnall stole the spotlight with its championship run, other Macon teams made noise in the postseason.

Stratford had a particularly inspiring performance, entering the eight-team tournament as the No. 7 seed but rallying in the loser’s bracket to win four straight elimination games and come just one win short of the title game.

The Eagles had to go up against No. 2 George Walton in the first game of the tournament, losing to the Bulldogs 10-1 in an expected defeat. But Stratford lit up the scoreboard from there, first taking down No. 6 Bulloch 16-5 in the opening loser’s bracket game before stunning Macon rival and No. 5 FPD with a 13-1 win.

The Eagles didn’t stop there, pulling out an even bigger upset with a thrilling 15-11 win over No. 3 Strong Rock Christian before finally bowing out against George Walton for the second time. Even the second game against the Bulldogs defied expectations, as the next-to-last ranked team gave the No. 2 a run for its money in a 10-7 game.

FPD played well early but could not string victories together, winning 10-7 in the opening round before taking a 16-1 loss to Tattnall on the chin in the second round and falling to red-hot Stratford in the loser’s bracket.

GHSA teams fall in volleyball tournament

ACE won in the first round with home field advantage, but both the Gryphons and Northeast Raiders bowed out of the GHSA 1A state volleyball tournament early as the sole representatives from Bibb County last week.

ACE played well all season, though they did not win the 1A Area 1 thanks to the near-flawless 20-5 season from Lamar County. Still, a 22-15 finish earned the Gryphons home court and a No. 7 seed against No. 26 Toombs County.

ACE won 3-1, dropping the first set 26-24 before winning three straight by scores of 25-12, 25-16 and 25-16. 

Despite having another home match, the Gryphons eventually fell against No. 10 Oglethorpe County Saturday by scores of 25-15, 25-14 and 25-12 in a 3-0 defeat.

The Northeast Raiders got into the playoffs as Area 1’s final team, ranking No. 31 out of 32 playoff squads. The ranking earned them a difficult pairing with No. 2 Elite Scholars Academy, and the Royal Knights won 25-2, 25-6 and 25-13.

Mercer men’s soccer treading water in SoCon, women’s team gaining ground

The Mercer men’s soccer team is 1-1-1 in conference play so far, including an impressive draw against nationally-ranked UNC-Greensboro and a loss against conference frontrunner ETSU.

The UNC-G Spartans had been No. 21 in the country when the Bears tied them 1-1 Oct. 5, but neither team has been able to conquer ETSU thus far. The Buccaneers are a perfect 3-0 in the Southern Conference so far, including a gut-wrenching 1-0 win over Mercer in Macon Saturday.

The Bears controlled possession regularly against ETSU, but could not come up with a goal in the second half to equal the Bucs’ first-half score. Mercer, now 5-3-6 overall, got its lone conference win in a 3-0 victory over VMI.

The Bears get two more home games, one against Wofford Saturday and another this Tuesday against out-of-conference Winthrop, before a final conference game on the road against Furman Nov. 2 wraps up the season ahead of the SoCon tournament begins Nov. 8.

The women’s team improved recently in its SoCon slate, moving to 10-4-3 overall and 4-2-2 in the conference with a 3-1 win over The Citadel Sunday.

Jada Moorman scored two goals in the win, which moved the Bears into the middle of the pack in the SoCon standings. Mercer remained tied for fourth place with Furman as of Wednesday, still trailing the red-hot UT-Chattanooga Mocs and conference-leading Western Carolina.

The Bears have just one more game, a road tilt against Wofford in Spartanburg this Sunday, before conference championship time rolls around Nov. 1.