GSC Claims First GCAA Regular Season Title
Gordon State left nothing to doubt in earning an outright Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) regular season championship as the Highlanders defeated East Georgia State College 9-1 and 13-0 here Saturday afternoon.
With the victories, GSC finishes the 2021 regular season with a 32-11 overall record and a 21-3 GCAA record, which delivers the Highlanders their first conference regular season title in school history.
“I’m just so happy for these women,” said head coach Ally Hattermann, who is in her 22nd season at Gordon. “It’s the first time to my knowledge that Gordon has won the regular season conference championship. We’ve had some good teams over the years and we just didn’t win the regular season (title).”
GSC will begin GCAA postseason play on May 10 when the Highlanders welcome the winner of the No. 4 seed East Georgia State/No. 5 seed ABAC series to Barnesville for a 4 p.m. doubleheader.
An if-necessary game three would be played on May 11 for a berth in the GCAA semifinals on May 14 at Strong Rock Christian School in Locust Grove.
After GSC won 18 straight games, the Highlanders dropped three of four – including an 8-6 home loss to ABAC and a 5-3, 9-1 doubleheader loss at Georgia Military College eight days later.
But GSC got the train back on the tracks and now owns a six-game winning streak, including Saturday’s sweep of EGSC.
“This team stayed the course the entire season the entire season, which is challenging in any year – let alone a COVID-19 year. Now their sights are set on playing our best and winning the (National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association Region 17/GCAA) championship and advancing to the national tournament.”
In the opener on Saturday, GSC scored in five of the seven innings – including four in the top of the seventh to put the game away.
Kinsey Jones (Aragon, Ga. / Rockmart HS) and Chandler Mitchell (Forsyth, Ga. / Locust Grove HS) homered while Makenzie English (Williamson, Ga. / Pike Co. HS) went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
Camden Steele (Jackson, Ga. / Union Grove HS) came through with a 3-for-4 day at the plate with two RBI and crossed home once and Taylor McClendon (McDonough, Ga. / Ola HS) added two hits as GSC pounded out 13 total hits and took advantage of seven Bobcats’ errors.
Faith Hager (Madison, Ga. / Heritage HS) got her 17th win in the circle with a complete-game six-hit, one-run (unearned) performance that included seven strikeouts and no walks.
GSC wasted no time in the second game to pull away from EGSC (and complete the sweep by scoring in every frame of the five-inning game.
Jones connected for her second homer during a 2-for-2 outing that produced four RBI and a run scored on the afternoon.
Breanna Lee (Concord, Ga. / Pike Co. HS) and McClendon added two hits each with Lee collecting two RBI and two runs while McClendon had three RBI and two runs.
Bailey Odom (Danville, Ga. / Bleckley Co. HS) moved to 14-1 overall in the circle with a three-hit shutout in three innings of work that included four strikeouts and no walks.
Natalie Song (Cataula, Ga. / Harris Co. HS) finished the game with two innings of work that produced two hits and no runs.