Lanier Point Invitational
Saturday's scores
Hart County 12, East Hall 0
Banks County 9, Habersham Central 0
Fannin County 8, Gainesville 0
Blessed Trinity 12, Chestatee 0
Hebron Christian 4, East Hall 2
West Hall 1, Habersham Central 0
Fannin County 11, Holy Innocents 1
White County 6, Chestatee 5
Hart County 4, Rabun County 0
Union County 4, Banks County 0
Dawson County 6, Gainesville 0
Blessed Trinity 9, Pepperell 1
Silver Bracket
West Hall 9, Holy Innocents 1
Chestatee 4, East Hall 3
Rabun County 6, Pepperell 3
Habersham Central 9, Gainesville 0
West Hall 10, Chestatee 0
Habersham Central 10, Rabun County 0
East Hall 11, Holy Innocents 3
Pepperell 7, Gainesville 3
7th place game: Holy Innocents 13, Gainesville 7
5th place game: East Hall 5, Pepperell 1
3rd place game: Chestatee 4, Rabun County 1
Championship: Habersham Central 11, West Hall 1
Gold bracket
Union County 4, Fannin County 1
White County 9, Hart County 1
Blessed Trinity 12, Hebron Christian 2
Dawson County 5, Banks County 2
Union County 6, White County 3
Blessed Trinity 4, Dawson County 0
Fannin County 3, Hart County 2
Hebron Christian 3, Banks 2
7th place game: Hebron Christian 6, Hart County 5
5th place game: Fannin County 2, Banks County 1
3rd place game: White County 6, Dawson County 2
1st place game: Blessed Trinity 8, Union County 7
Union County High’s bid at winning the Lanier Point Invitational came up short, but it wasn’t for lack of power.
The Lady Panthers had a pair of late-inning home runs against Blessed Trinity on Saturday in the championship game of the gold bracket. However, the Lady Titans had run scoring hits from four different players, including three RBIs from Macy Terry to secure an 8-7 win and the title.
For Union County, Kristen Hamby had a three-run home run in the fourth inning, and Whitney Kelley added a two-run home run in the fifth.
Matraca McKim and Tori Dyer added RBI singles for the Lady Panthers. Union County finished bracket play with a 4-1 win against Fannin County, and a 6-3 victory against White County.
Terry finished the championship game with three hits and Maddy Stanton had a pair of hits for Blessed Trinity. The Lady Titans defeated Hebron Christian 12-2, and Dawson County 4-0 in the gold bracket.
White County finished third in the gold bracket with a 6-2 win against Dawson County. The Lady Warriors defeated Hart County 9-1, and lost to Union County 6-3 in bracket play.
Habersham Central won the silver bracket with an 11-1 win against West Hall in the championship game. In bracket play, the Lady Raiders defeated Gainesville 9-0, Rabun County 10-0 and West Hall. The Lady Spartans placed second. Chestatee finished third in the silver bracket with a 4-1 win against Rabun County.
WEST HALL 1, HABERSHAM CENTRAL 0: West Hall High’s softball team traditionally has strong pitching.
Senior Emily Hammond looks like she’ll be able to keep that reputation in tact this season.
Hammond, a three-year starting pitcher for the Lady Spartans, allowed only one hit and one walk in a 1-0 win against Habersham Central on Saturday in the Lanier Point Invitational at the Lanier Point Softball Complex. She also scored the game’s only run on an infield single from Miranda Miller in the sixth inning.
Hammond showed she could rebound in a hurry after ending up on the losing end of an 8-0 loss to Banks County during the first day of the invitational on Friday. Against Habersham Central, she kept the ball low in the zone and had Lady Raiders hitters grounding out.
What makes things better for Spartans coach Warren Sellers is seeing low run totals so early in the season.
"If you’re winning games 9-8, you probably have a lot going wrong," he said. "But when you win 1-0, you have to feel a lot better about the pitching and defense."
The Lady Spartans manufactured the game’s only run by legging out a pair of infield singles, combined with a throwing error. Victoria Tuttle started the inning with a single and advanced to second by way of a throwing error to first.
Then Hammond got on base with another infield single and stole second. Miller’s infield single was enough to score Hammond and bring West Hall to victory. Hammond was the only hitter with two hits in the game.