Trion sends Baconton Charter into loser’s bracket at state softball tournament

COLUMBUS — Baconton Charter won its first game at the state softball tournament on Thursday before dropping their second to fall into the loser’s bracket.

The Lady Blazers beat Schley County 5-4 in extra innings before losing to Trion 7-2 in the nightcap at South Commons Park in the Class A public school classification.

In Baconton’s first game, they took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after consecutive doubles by Kloe Daughtry and Ashley Meyer. They had a chance to add one earlier in the inning after a leadoff triple, but the umpires ruled that the runner left early on a sacrifice fly.

Gracie Cranford worked out of a bases loaded jam in the top of second inning to preserve the score. She struck out three in the inning. After allowing the run, Cranford did not allow another baserunner until the sixth inning.

The Lady Blazers added two more runs, including a solo home run by Katie Classon, to make the score 3-0 in the second inning.

Schley County got on the board in the sixth inning after a hit batter and a single gave them runners on first and second with no outs. After allowing her lone run, Cranford worked out of the jam and the Lady Blazers led 3-1. Cranford pitched four 1-2-3 innings in the game.

Baconton scored an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Classon singled to score Emily Everson. Classon finished the game 3 for 4 with a home run, two singles and two RBIs.

The Lady Wildcats were down 4-2 in the top of the seventh with the bases loaded when Cranford got Brandilyn Comer to ground it to the second baseman. The umpire called the runner safe at second and two runs came across to tie the game at four.

Baconton ended the game in the bottom of the eighth when Daughtry doubled to left to score the winning run and give the Lady Blazers a 5-4 victory.

“We got off the deck and we were ahead there. We came back in extra innings and got a big win,” Baconton coach Bubber Birdsong said. “I don’t know if we had a little emotional letdown in the second game or what. We came out a little flat. Trion had a really good team with a lot of speed. I really think they just outplayed us.”

Baconton could not duplicate a similar performance against Trion. The Lady Bulldogs, the home team, opened up the scoring with a two-run first inning. Jaden Morrison led the game off with an inside-the-park home run.

Baconton cut the lead to 2-1 in the second inning after Haley Crosby doubled to score Ashley Meyer, who had walked earlier in the inning.

Trion answered back scoring three more runs in the second to take a 5-1 lead. The two teams traded runs in the fourth inning to make the score 6-2. The Lady Bulldogs further extended the lead in the sixth to get to the final score of 7-2.

Baconton only had two base runners after scoring in the fourth inning.

“Now the pressure is on. You lose and you go home,” Birdsong said. “There is no reason to hold back now. I’m looking for a good effort tomorrow and whatever happens, it has been a great year. Just to get into Columbus at any point is great.”

With the loss, Baconton will play an elimination game at 1 p.m. today. If they win, they will have to win again at 5 p.m. to advance to Saturday.