STONE MOUNTAIN ? Dalton High may be going to Columbus a week earlier than the rest of the state?s softball teams, or it may come home for a shot at a spot among the final eight.
But after the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs, the Lady Catamounts? season is definitely still going strong.
While Allie Blackwood and Carson Hagin combined for seven innings of one-hit pitching in two run-rule shortened shutouts, the Lady Cats? bats blasted for wins of 16-0 and 12-0 over host Redan in the first round Wednesday afternoon to secure a spot in the second round.
Dalton (14-17) will play again next week, facing the winner of the first-round series between Columbus and Lanier. If Columbus wins, the Lady Cats will play a best-of-three series on the road. If Lanier wins, Dalton will host. Second-round winners advance to the South Commons Softball Complex in Columbus, where the final eight teams play in a double-elimination bracket starting Oct. 25.
Dalton overcame a rocky regular season in 2011 to claim Region 7-3A?s fourth seed before losing two straight to eventual champion Oconee County in the opening round. This year, Dalton again corrected a mostly woeful regular season in the Region 7-4A tournament, claiming the No. 3 seed under the direction of first-year coach Jeff McKinney.
?It?s like I told them before (Wednesday?s) game, ?There are 32 teams in this thing, and one of them is going to be state champion,? McKinney said. ?After these games, it will be down to 16. Our next step is to be in the top eight.?
On Wednesday, Blackwood faced 11 batters, yielding one hit while striking out nine ? including four in the first inning alone thanks to a dropped third strike. Hagin hurled four no-hit innings and struck out five. In Game 2, she hit the first two batters, who advanced to second and third before sandwiching a ground ball between a pair of strikeouts to end the early, and only, threat for the Lady Raiders.
With the pitchers holding Redan at bay, the offense delivered.
In Game 1, the Lady Cats scored six runs in the second and 10 in the third to easily meet the 12-run lead needed to stop the game after three inning via the mercy rule. Hagin and Jessica Cisneros each had two hits for Dalton in the first game.
Game 2 required another inning, as Dalton scored seven runs in the first three innings before picking up five in the bottom of the fourth to end the series. Blakely Thomason was 3-for-3 for the Lady Cats, while Blackwood and Cisneros each had two hits.
Cruising to an easy first-round sweep could hand a team too much confidence. However, after facing Northwest Whitfield, the top-ranked team in Ga.PrepCountry.com?s Class 4A coaches poll, and No. 3-ranked Heritage-Catoosa during region competition, McKinney expressed no doubt his team is aware of the talent working its way to the state tournament.
?We know we have to be focused against the rest of teams that we?re going to face,? McKinney said.
Building on the confidence the late-season wins have brought, Hagin and Blackwood said lessons learned over the past two years will keep the team ready.
?We just have to stay positive,? Hagin said. ?We need to keep it rolling and keep things in perspective.?
Said Blackwood, ?Last year at Oconee County, we were nervous and didn?t know what to expect. This year we knew how it was going to be. We just have to get it done.?
And McKinney believes there is more work to be done for Dalton?s play quality to get where it needs to be.
?We really didn?t play well,? McKinney said. ?I mean, we won big, but we didn?t do a lot of things right. We?ve got to improve.?
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