CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. — There hasn’t been much to not like about the play of the Gordon Lee softball team of late, but for three innings of Tuesday’s Region 6-A game against Bremen, it was hard to tell by the mood of coach Dana Mull.

Poor play — some physical, some mental — had the Lady Trojans down 2-0 after two innings, but after an early chewing from their fiery coach, they turned it around for a 7-2 win. It was their 10th in a row.

“We didn’t come out focused as usual,” Mull said after a leadoff single and a misplayed sacrifice bunt led to a first-inning Bremen run. “It took us a couple of innings before we got going, and I guess we’ll have to find something that makes them go earlier.”

Mull’s message took a few innings to soak in. A leadoff error allowed the Lady Blue Devils to score an unearned run in the second for the 2-0 lead, but the Lady Trojans started to time the off-speed pitches of Bremen pitcher Taylor Yates in the fourth.

Staff Photo by Margaret Fenton
Gordon Lee Lady Trojans player Molly Rodgers dives back to first base, arriving after the ball, in the bottom of the 4th inning. The Lady Trojans rallied at the bottom of the 5th to win 7-2 against Bremen High School.

Jonia Taylor led off the inning with her second double of the game and scored on Molly Rodgers’ single. Only a double play on a hit-and-run attempt kept the inning from being bigger.

Not to worry: Gordon Lee sent 10 batters to the plate in the fifth, scoring six times to put the game away. Lacey Perry started the inning with a single, and after Holli Brooks’ one-out single, Kelsey Bickett reached on a fielder’s choice and Perry scored on an error to tie the game. Chelsea Tarvin and Taylor followed with RBI singles, and the game got away from the Lady Devils on a run-scoring wild pitch and an error that plated another.

“We finally got our bats going after we batted a couple of times,” said Taylor, who was 3-for-4 while also notching her ninth pitching win by scattering six hits and striking out three. “I don’t know why we came out so slow, but we need to be ready to play our A game from the start from now on.”

After a 1-4 start to the season, Gordon Lee has won 13 of its last 14 games, including Cherokee tournament wins over Class AA top-five ranked Ringgold and Ridgeland and an emotional victory over two-time Class A defending champion Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy, a team the Lady Trojans are likely to see in the state playoffs.

“That tournament was a lot to build on,” Mull said. “That showed the potential we have and was a good confidence builder. These girls have known they can play with anybody. They just have to do it.”

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