Toombs Wins Super Regional
The Toombs County High School Lady Bulldogs softball team competed in the Super Regionals last week at Cook County. It was a great week for TCHS as they clinched a spot in the Elite 8 that will take place this week in Columbus.
In the Super Regionals the Bulldogs took on Northeast of Macon in their first matchup and rolled to a big win. Up next was the #1 ranked Cook County Hornets with Toombs taking the win. Cook and Toombs battled one more time for the Championship of the Super Regional, and Toombs against came out on top of the Hornets to take their spot in the Elite 8. vs. Northeast
Their face-off against the Northeast of Macon Raiders was a great start in the Super Regional, with Toombs County winning a decisive 12-0 victory.
Toombs jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the second inning, and in the third they added six more runs to take a commanding 11-0 lead. Toombs plated one more in the top of the fourth inning as they took the win by the run rule, 12-0.
Natalie Quintero emerged as a top performer at the plate, registering three hits in as many at-bats. Her back-to-back doubles in consecutive innings were clutch, leaving the Raiders struggling to keep pace.
On the pitching front, right-hander Casey Cantwell stole the show, striking out 10 batters, while conceding only one hit and zero runs in four innings. Remarkably, she did this without giving up any walks. continued from page
vs. Cook
The next game of the Super Regional saw the Lady Dawgs set the tone from the outset against #1 Max Preps Ranked Cook County.
Cook got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the first inning, but in the top of the second the Bulldogs scored twice on a combination of opposition errors and a wild pitch, which gave the Dogs a 2-1 advantage. Nora Grace Mercer and Aniston Powell played instrumental roles in getting those two runs.
Toombs picked up another run in the top of the third inning, and then in the top of the fourth they scored four more runs to take a 7-1 lead over the top ranked Hornets. Kassidy Brantley, Natalie Quintero, and Aniston Powell combined their efforts, getting the hits that scored those four crucial runs for the Bulldogs.
Shay Stringer then took charge in the pitcher’s circle, yielding only one more run on four hits in a four-inning stint. She ended the day with seven strikeouts. Not to be outdone, Cantwell wrapped up the game, striking out three without allowing a hit in her three-inning stretch.
The Hornets did manage a run in the bottom of the fifth inning, but that was all as Toombs took the win, 7-2. vs. Cook Championship In the decisive Championship clash in game two versus the Cook County Hornets, the Dawgs cruised to a 4-0 win.
Stringer was again solid in the circle, shutting out Cook County with just two hits in a seveninning battle. Hitters of the day included Nora Grace Mercer, Emerson Powell, Casey Cantwell, Shay Stringer, Natalie Quintero, and Aniston Powell. Kassidy Brantley came through with two hits and pair of RBIs, culminating in an 8-hit total for the Dawgs.
Toombs picked up a run in the top of the first inning, but didn't score again until the top of the sixth inning. Toombs plated three more runs to go ahead 4-0 on Cook. Toombs took the game by that score to win the Super Regional Title.
TCHS Coach Hayne Brant said, “I am super excited for all our players. We came to this super regional with a bunch of confidence because of how well we have been playing over the last two weeks. We played together as a team and never gave up when we went through some trials during the season. We are excited to have the opportunity to continue to play and experience the Elite 8 in Columbus this coming week.”
Toombs will be back in action on Wednesday of this week in Columbus as they start their Elite 8 run against Banks County at 3:00 p.m. Region 3AA faired well in the Super Regionals as three teams head to the Elite 8. Along with Toombs will be Vidalia and Appling County, showing just how tough Region 3AA is to play in.
