RINGGOLD, Ga. - The Heritage High School softball team has had the penchant in recent years to often play close, intense playoff games - sometimes closer than expected.
That was not the case on a chilly Thursday night when the Generals saw the chance for a knockout of visiting North Oconee and delivered an uppercut. Heritage (30-7) swept the Class AAAA first-round series, 8-0 and 19-0, pounding out 26 hits and allowing only two.
"North Oconee is a solid ball club, though they've been a little up and down this year, so we really didn't know what to expect," said Heritage coach Steve Chattin, whose team will host Whitewater in a second-round series beginning next Wednesday. "We started a little slowly while we adjusted to the pitching, but once we did we hit the ball well and Lauren Lawson was sharp."
Lawson pitched both games, which went a total of 10 innings, and only once in each game had a runner in scoring position against her. Offensively she was a big part of the damage in the second-game rout with three hits, including a home run and a double. Like her coach, she could find little wrong with the domination.
"Honestly, I didn't think we would win that easily, but once we scored a few runs they didn't fight back," she said. "I feel if we can play like we did tonight -- hitting, pitching and defense -- we should be fine. We have a lot of confidence in each other."
The first game was 0-0 entering the bottom of the third inning, when the Heritage batters finally started to time the offerings of North Oconee left-handed pitcher Katie Foote. Sydney Smith, who had five hits in the two games, singled in the game's first run, and Hannah Wills had an RBI walk and Krissi Prewitt a two-run double for a 4-0 lead.
Smith later added an RBI double and Brooklynn Frazier ended the game with another run-scoring two-bagger.
Game two had no drama as the Generals scored twice in the first half-inning on RBI hits from Lawson and Smith, then added six in the second, as the North Oconee defense began to fall apart with three errors. Prewitt and Ali Roberts joined Lawson with three hits in the nightcap, with Smith, Shelby Hammontree and Olivia Tamewitz adding two for a team that seemed to be having a good time.
"I thought we were very enthusiastic tonight, and to steal a line from Nick Saban, when you win a lot it's sometimes hard to enjoy winning," Chattin said. "Tonight I thought we enjoyed winning. Next week will be a lot tougher against Whitewater."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.