Softball teams combine for 46-2 score on day of domination

Last Tuesday might have been the best day in the history of Columbia County softball.

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It was an unofficial blowout day for the local teams. It wasn't written on the schedule, no definitive plans were made, but Evans, Lakeside and Harlem simply destroyed their competitors all in the same day.

Greenbrier, which didn't play, still managed to pick up another highlight to the 2007 season.

It all started at Lakeside, where region opponent Richmond Academy came to get what has become its annual beatdown.

In last year's meeting at Lakeside, the Lady Panthers defeated the Lady Musketeers 17-1. This year, Lakeside kept up the trend with a 14-1 home win that saw freshman Amanda Clark throw a complete-game one-hitter and strike out eight batters.

"The hitting was wonderful, and I was very proud of Amanda," Lakeside softball coach Christine Gisler said. "We've been working hard on her relaxing and getting ahead in counts. She did a great job with that."

At the same time Lakeside was improving its undefeated region record, Harlem continued its Region 3B-AAA schedule with a big win. The Lady Bulldogs played host to Washington County and handed the visiting Lady Golden Hawks an 11-1 spanking. After 14 consecutive road games to start the season, the 10-run win was Harlem's home opener.

The final big win of the day came later than it was supposed to in Statesboro, Ga. Evans was heavily favored to win the region road contest over the Lady Bulldogs, but a broken-down bus made for a late arrival.

Once the Lady Knights did show up, they wasted no time in their objective. Evans led 9-0 after three innings and went on to claim a 21-0 win.

The three-touchdown margin of victory made last year's 17-4 Evans win over Statesboro look like a barn-burner. It was Statesboro's biggest loss of the season and the first region win of the year for Evans.

The only softball team that didn't play on blowout Tuesday was Greenbrier. The Lady Wolfpack had the day off but still earned statewide recognition. On Tuesday morning, the GaSports.com coaches poll was released, and Greenbrier sat atop the Class AAAA poll with the No. 1 ranking.

Still to come ...

Bigger and better softball games are on the horizon for the local teams this week. Lakeside and Greenbrier, the only two undefeated teams in Region 3B-AAAA play, will square off for first place in the subregion Tuesday at Greenbrier.

Win or lose, the Lady Panthers will jump right into another key subregion game two days later. Lakeside will travel to Evans on Thursday, and a win over the Lady Knights would solidify Lakeside as the No. 2 team in the region at worst and No. 1 team at best.

"This is what we've been working for every day," Gisler said. "It's going to be an exciting week."