Wheeler Knocked Out In First Round
The Wheeler County High School Lady Bulldogs softball team took on the Lady Tigers of Claxton last week in the first round of the GHSA State Playoffs. Wheeler took the win in the first game of the best-of-three series, but the Tigers came back to win the next two games to end the Bulldogs' historic season. Wheeler finished the season with an overall record of 18-7, and they were 9-1 in Region play.
They played a double header on Wednesday of last week and then played the deciding game three on Thursday.
Game 1
The Bulldogs got a dominant pitching performance from Ava Dixon in the first game of the series as she threw a no hitter and struck out 13 batters on the way to an 8-0 win.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the third inning when the Bulldogs jumped out to a 3-0 lead. WCHS picked up two runs on errors by the Tigers, and a third run scored on an RBI hit by Mackenzie Johnson.
Wheeler added five more runs in the fourth inning. They scored three more runs off of Tiger errors and got a big RBI double from Dixon as they pushed their lead to 8-0. Dixon then shut them down in the top of the fifth inning to take the game by the run rule.
Game 2
This game was very different as the Tigers had 10 hits in the game, and Wheeler committed four errors compared to making none in the first game of the series.
Claxton got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning with four runs. Two of those came off errors by the Bulldogs and the other two off an RBI single.
Wheeler closed the lead to 4-2 in the top of the second inning, but two more runs by Claxton in the third gave them a 6-2 lead. Wheeler bounced back and tied the game in the top of the fourth inning as they strung together three singles, and then a hit by Gabby Angel knotted the game at 6-6.
Claxton went back on top in the bottom half of the inning with two more runs to take an 8-6 lead, but Wheeler came through with one run in the top of the fifth to make it 8-7. But three more runs in the bottom of the fifth pushed the Tigers lead to 11-7.
Wheeler did add two runs in the top of the sixth inning, but one more from Claxton gave them a 12-9 win and with that forced a third and deciding game Game 3
Game 3 of the series was a battle that went all the way to extra innings before a winner was decided. Dixon was in the circle again for Wheeler but did not dominate like she did in the first game.
Wheeler jumped out to a big lead in the bottom of the first inning as Dixon came through with a two-RBI triple. Shelley Conner added an RBI single, and Angel picked up an RBI with a double to put the Bulldogs on top 4-0.
Claxton got a run in the top of the second inning on a solo home run, but in the bottom of the frame Wheeler looked to take complete control of the game as they added five more runs to their total. Kyleigh Horne came through with a big threerun home run to left field to push the lead to 7-1. Conner added a sacrifice fly, and Angel drove in a run with a single for a 9-1 lead.
In the top of the fourth inning, Claxton cut into the lead. They added a two-run home run along with a couple of singles and errors by the Bulldogs as they put five runs on the board to close the lead to 9-6. Claxton plated one in the top of the fifth inning as Wheeler now led by just two runs, 9-7.
Wheeler added a run in the sixth inning to take a 10-7 lead, but the Tigers loaded the bases in the top of the seventh inning and took an 11-10 lead over the Bulldogs. In the bottom of the seventh, Wheeler got a run to tie the game at 1111 and send it to extra innings.
In the top of the eighth inning, Claxton got one run across to take a 12-11 lead, and that was all they needed as they kept the Bulldogs off the board in the bottom of the eighth to take the win by that score.
The loss ended the season for the Bulldogs. It was one of the best seasons in school history.
