CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. -- There was very little celebration for the Gordon Lee Lady Trojans following their GHSA Class A second-round softball series sweep of Athens Christian on Thursday.
Reaching the Elite Eight in Columbus is a huge achievement for most programs. For 33-1 Gordon Lee, it's almost like a second home.
The Lady Trojans, following 8-0 and 13-0 wins over the Lady Eagles (19-8), will be making their 10th consecutive trip to the site of the state championships and will be looking for their third title under coach Dana Mull.
"I feel like this group really expects to be there," said Mull, in her ninth year at the school. "They really know what it takes, and they're as focused as I've ever seen. We wanted to set the tone early today and we did just that, and what I'm really proud of is that they didn't let up once they got ahead."
The Lady Trojans dominated in every facet, pounding out 23 hits while limiting Athens Christian to five behind pitchers Brenna Nation and Kalei Kimbrell. The opening inning of each game set the tone. In game one Kendall Johnson and Courtney Towns hit back-to-back home runs to key a five-run inning, and in game two the first four Lady Trojans scored, Sam Taylor opening with a triple and Nation and Kelsie Bickett getting run-scoring hits.
Nation sat down the first three Athens Christian batters in the first inning on eight pitches and retired the first 13 batters before Elizabeth Stoyle singled in the fifth for the Lady Eagles' only hit. In the second game, Kimbrell allowed four singles and was the beneficiary of two perfectly executed double plays.
Taylor, Bickett and Jordan Hamyll had four hits each for the top-ranked winners.