Gordon Lee bounces Bremen

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. - So it's on to Columbus and the state tournament, a trip none of the current Gordon Lee players have ever missed.

Although reservations had been made previously, Gordon Lee punched its state softball ticket Wednesday, posting a pair of run rule-shorted victories over visiting Bremen, 9-0 and 9-1. They'll be looking for their fifth straight state title although they'll do so in Class 2A rather than 1A.

The games, which were scheduled to begin at 4 p.m., were delayed close to an hour because umpires did not arrive. It was the second straight postseason week that Gordon Lee and its opponent had to wait on the boys in blue.

It didn't matter so much last week with warmer temperatures and rain having cleared out, but by the end of the second game temperatures had plummeted into the high 40s.

Emily Armour did her best to end it as quickly as possible, pitching a one-hitter while striking out 14 in the six-inning first game.

"I feel like as a team we played well and that's what we need right now. We did what we needed to do," she said.

The second game performance wasn't quite as good, but she still struck out seven in five innings.

"I'm proud of tonight but I couldn't have done it without my teammates," Armour said.

She tired in the second game but came up with a pair of key bases-loaded strikeouts in the third inning and after giving up an unearned run, induced an infield pop-up and a grounder to short.

"I didn't do it (load the bases) on purpose but it's a rush -- tease them and them shut them down," she said. "It's a wake-up call -- 'Hey, you have to get these outs.'"

In 11 innings, she had 21 strikeouts, just two walks and two hit batters while giving up just five hits.

"She was great. Even in the second game when they got the bases loaded, she stepped up," Lady Trojans coach Dana Mull said. "She was pretty much focus, lights out in the first game and then in the second game -- it's cold and she's tired -- she still found a way to come through."

Gordon Lee did what it does best in each of the games, scoring two first-inning runs in Game 1 and three first-inning runs in Game 2.

"We'll score how we can whether it's home runs or bunting and moving the runners. We were able to capitalize on their mistakes in the first inning of both games," Mull said.

Armour broke the first game open with a two-run homer in the fifth when Gordon Lee scored five runs. Tiffany Holland, Addi Taylor, Meghan O'Toole and Gracey Kruze added two hits each, Kruze with two RBIs.

In the second game, O'Toole was 2-for-3 -- both doubles -- scored twice and added two RBIs. Courtland Middleton also had two hits and scored twice.

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.

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