Worth County captures region softball crown

ALBANY — The Worth County Lady Rams took home the Region 1-AAAA softball championship Thursday night, dispatching the Cook Lady Hornets 3-1 at the Gordon Softball Complex.

The Lady Rams swept through the tournament, winning all four of its games. It was the second time in three days that Worth County defeated Cook.

And with the region title comes the top seed and the right to host a first-round state playoff game that begins next Wednesday. They will play host to the fourth seed from Region 4-AAAA.

“They fought hard through the whole thing,” Lady Rams head coach Kaleb Hathcock said. “They never once got down, they’ve always competed. They’ve never shown any signs of defeat.”

After two scoreless innings to start the game, Cook pitcher Lexie Walker walked two straight Worth County batters in the bottom of the third inning. On the next at-bat, Taylor Layfield singled to center field, scoring Abbey Adkins to tie the game.

The Lady Rams stranded three runners on base to end the inning, and Cook seemed to have dodged a bullet.

However, the real damage was done in the bottom of the fourth, when third baseman Taylor White tripled to drive in another run. Senior catcher Lindsey Toneygay singled to drive White in, pushing the lead to 3-1.

From that point, Cook only had one batter reach base safely.

“We’ve been in that situation before,” Hathcock said. “We know we have a good enough offense where we’re never out of a game. They knew we could respond when we got runners on base.”

Cook earned the No. 2 seed after eliminated Thomas County Central earlier on Thursday.

Worth County finishes the regular season with an overall record of 24-8, while Cook finishes the season at 19-9 overall.

Worth’s Caroline Newton pitched all seven innings, finishing with seven strikeouts and allowing five hits. The Lady Rams’ three runs came on seven hits