After a long break between games, the Georgia Military College Softball team traveled down to Columbus, Georgia, this past weekend to participate in the 2021 Wallace State Tournament. The Bulldogs faced off against some stout competition throughout the two-day tournament, facing NJCAA nationally ranked D1 teams #1 Florida Southwestern, #2 College of Central Florida, #11 Wallace State Hanceville, Gulf Coast, and D2 #3 Louisburg College. GMC went one and four on the weekend, with the only win coming in a 3-2 victory over Gulf Coast State College.
GMC opened the weekend up against Florida Southwestern on Friday morning. The Bucs started the scoring in the top of the first inning off an unearned run when the leadoff batter scored on a passed ball. The Bulldogs immediately answered in the bottom of the first when the leadoff batter, Makensey Sapp, hit a solo home run to left-center. The Bulldogs scored seven more runs that inning off five more hits and three walks. Unfortunately, that was all the scoring that GMC would do as FSW held them there for the remainder of the game as they bounced back to win the game 9-8. FSW scored their final eight runs on a couple of defensive miscues by the Bulldogs before a solo shot eventually put them ahead. Jana Shellhorse took the Bulldogs' loss as she went the distance with six strikeouts during the contest.
The Bulldogs opened up game two, scoring in the top of the first inning against Louisburg College Hurricanes when Brianna Painter reached on a single and scored on the double to left-center by Mackenzie Kilpatrick. The Hurricanes took the lead back in the bottom of the first inning, scoring two runs extending their lead in the third inning to score four runs on three hits and a walk. Beth Eddins started the game for GMC and was relieved by Layla Barron in the third. Barron held the Hurricanes at seven runs and allowed the Bulldogs to rally at the top of the seventh inning to win the game. GMC scored four runs in the seventh on two walks, three hits, and an error by Hurricanes end the game a few runs short of the comeback. Painter finished the game going 1-1 with two runs scored and two walks, completing a perfect day at the plate for her as she was 2-2 and had five walks.
Saturday came with the hope of new chances as the Bulldogs felt they were close on Friday and just needed to clean a few things up from the previous day's games. First up was Central Florida; by the third inning, GMC was ahead of the #2 Patriots 3-0 after Whitley Ward hit a two-run homer to deep left field, her first of the season and her career. CF scored one run back in the bottom of the third inning before eventually taking the lead in the fourth inning for good, scoring eight runs. GMC tacked on one more run in the fifth inning after Painter lead off with a double to left field and was driven home by Ward, picking up her third RBI of the game. Shellhorse was on the mound to start for the Bulldogs before Barron came on in relief in the fourth inning.
The middle game of the tripleheader for the Bulldogs saw them facing off against Gulf Coast. Unlike previous games, this one was a pitcher's duel. Eddins got the win, going the distance for the Bulldogs. She allowed just two runs on ten hits while striking out two batters and giving up no walks. GMC once again scored first in the game, Jessica Owens led off the second inning with a single. Owens advanced to second on a bunt by Kinsley Goolsby and would eventually score on a two-out single back up Caroline Hughes's middle. Gulf Coast would tie the game up in the top of fifth after the leadoff runner reached on an error and scored on the double to right field. The Bulldogs would immediately take the lead back in the bottom of the inning as Autumn Land reached on a walk and followed by a single from Makensey Sapp. Land would score on a bases-loaded ground out to shortstop by Ward. Once again, the Blue Wave would respond, scoring a run of their own in the sixth inning. The score would remain 2-2 going into the bottom of the seventh inning. Painter reached on a one-out single up the middle and was followed by a single to left by Kilpatrick, setting up the table for Ward, who hit a shot past the diving shortstop to score Painter for the 3-2 walk-off victory.
The final game of the tournament saw the Bulldogs matched up with host team Wallace Hanceville. GMC started the scoring once again as Ward hit her second home run of the day, a three-run shot to straightaway centerfield, in the bottom of the first. The Lions scored one run in both the second and third innings before putting the game out of reach by scoring six runs in the fourth and four in the sixth. The Bulldogs scored one final run in the bottom of the fourth inning as Ashlyn Trimble, who pinch ran after Goolsby reached on a single, reached third on a ground-rule double by Macy Poisal and scored on a ground out by Hughes to the shortstop. On the mound for the final game was Barron, but both Shellhorse and Eddins would come in throughout the game for relief.
Coach Ashley Bunn commented, "This weekend taught us a lot about who we are as a team and what we are capable of doing once we get all three phases of the game working together; offense, defense, and pitching. It is my fault for us not being as prepared as we should have been for some of the defensive miscues that took place over the weekend, and we will spend the next week working diligently to fix those mistakes before we start conference play. While I am not satisfied with going 1-4 on the weekend, I am proud of how we competed against these teams at times and excited to see what we can and will accomplish once it all comes together."
The Bulldogs will be back at home next week for games on Tuesday and Thursday at 3pm and 5pm.
