BRUNSWICK, Ga. - The College of Coastal Georgia softball team split their Friday afternoon at the Sun Conference tournament, defeating the Webber Warriors in their first game before dropping their second game of the day to St Thomas.
GAME ONE: #4 CCGA 2, #5 Webber 1
In the first game of the Sun Conference Tournament, the Mariners (35-16, 15-9 SUN) earned the opportunity to take on the same team that they defeated three times just days before in the form of the Warriors. While the Mariners swept the series the weekend before, neither side threw their best pitcher in the series which set up a heavyweight clash in the opener between Rylee Mills from Coastal and Taylor Thomas from Webber.
Despite winning the contest 2-1, CCGA was outhit by the Warriors 6-2 in the contest, but the two hits the Mariners got both drove in runs leading to the one run advantage on the scoreboard.
Both sides were tame offensively until the bottom of the third inning when the Mariners opened up the scoring. Avery Callaway started the inning by reaching thanks to an error from the Warriors as she moved to second on a sac bunt from McKenzie Collins. Two batters later, Emma Jones, a first team all conference selection this season, drove in Callaway with a double that hit off the glove of a diving Warriors center fielder as CCGA took a 1-0 lead.
With Mills rolling in the circle, the Mariners got another run in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a solo home run from Mackenzie Southerland to make the score 2-0 going into the fifth.
In the sixth, the Warriors started the inning with three hits and a fielder's choice which brought home a run in the inning, but Mills worked out of the two runner jam to keep the lead going into the bottom half. Needing just three outs to secure the game one win, Mills got timely outs in the seventh, including a 5-3-6 double play that ended the game and gave CCGA the win.
Jones and Southerland recorded the only two hits of the game for CCGA and both recorded one RBI each. Mills picked up the win in the circle, allowing six hits and one run in seven innings.
GAME TWO: #4 CCGA 2 , #1 STU 6
Moving on from their opening tournament win over the Warriors, the Mariners now had a chance to enter Saturday 2-0 and just one win away from the championship game with a win over the number one overall seed St Thomas.
Earlier in the season, the Bobcats swept the Mariners in their regular season series in Brunswick, and they continued to roll as they have all season long with a 6-2 win in their first game of the Sun Conference tournament.
Anna Toon pitched the entire bout for the Bobcats going all seven innings allowing just five hits and two runs on three walks and eight strikeouts.
Where the Mariners struggled in the game was in the pitching circle as the pitching duo of McKenzie Collins and Emilia Clemons combined to walk eight St Thomas batters while only allowing five hits, proving to be their demise.
In the second inning, Jones singled through the right side to score a pair of runs and give the Mariners a quick 2-0 lead. It was short lived, however, as the Bobcats responded with three runs in both the third and fourth innings to take a 6-2 lead, one they would not surrender.
One bright spot in the Mariners lineup was Avery Callaway who went 2-3 and scored one of the two runs in the contest, continuing to provide depth to a young Mariners offense.
With the loss, the Mariners slide to the losers bracket and will face the number three seeded Keiser Seahawks in the first game of the day tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.
