High school softball: Murray, North Murray clinch playoff berth in region tourney; Rivals will play Wednesday for seeding

Published 7:45 pm Tuesday, October 10, 2023

In Monday evening games in the Region 7-2A softball tournament, North Murray and Murray County both secured spots in the Class 2A state playoffs.

Both then fell in semifinal games in the region tournament later Monday, but the pair of rivals will meet tonight to decide which team will be the third seed and which will be the fourth.

North Murray (11-12) will host Murray County (6-14) at 5 p.m. today, and both teams will then play in super regional brackets next week. The two teams split two games during the regular season.

Both teams will make their second straight playoff appearances after going on similar runs in the region tournament last season. Before 2022, Murray had last made the playoffs in 2014 and North Murray had last made a postseason appearance in 2013.

North Murray came into this year’s region tournament as the fourth seed, while Murray was the sixth.

In the first round Monday night, Kaitlyn Malone had a pair of home runs as North Murray piled up 18 runs in an 18-10 win over Fannin County that secured the Lady Mountaineers the playoff berth.

The Lady Neers put up 20 hits overall. Cadence Mulkey got a hit in all five of her at-bats, doubling and tripling once apiece and tallying two RBIs. Malone totaled five RBIs, as did Cameron Longley.

After the opening win, North Murray ran up against top-seeded Rockmart, which is 24-2 on the year and jaunted through the season with a 12-0 mark in region play.

The Yellow Jackets shut out North Murray 11-0 to advance to the finals and send North Murray into the third place game.

Murray County, meanwhile, entered the region tourney as the sixth seed and needed an upset win over third-seeded Model to secure a playoff spot.

Murray worked a 9-5 win over Model to earn the postseason berth. Emerie Bohannon and Hadley Dotson both accounted for a pair of RBIs, and Lanie Spence and Bohannon both had three hits. Bohannon also held on to the win from the mound, striking out four and holding Model scoreless in four of the seven innings.

Murray was also shut out in the semifinal round, losing to second-seeded Haralson County.

Also in high school softball action:

Dalton 5, Hiram 1

Dalton (7-13) defeated Hiram (8-16) 5-1 on the road Tuesday night to secure a postseason spot.

Dalton scored three runs in the top of the first and never gave up the advantage.

Kailyn Anderson was 2-for-3 with a double and a pair of RBIs for Dalton. Kaylee Tatum also had two RBIs.

Tatum also held Hiram to just the one run from the mound. Tatum had nine strikeouts and allowed five hits.

Dalton wrapped up the regular season as the fourth seed in Region 7-5A and will play in a Class 5A super regional bracket at Kell next week.

Coahulla Creek 8, Adairsville 0

Coahulla Creek (17-8) wrapped up the regular season with an 8-0 win over Adairsville (6-18) Tuesday.

Caroline Reed went 2-for-3 with a triple and an RBI for Creek. Annie Reed, Nora Milam and Ally Franks each had two RBIs. Emily Wood had a double.

Creek had secured a spot in the Class 3A postseason last week. The Lady Colts will be the fourth seed in Region 6-3A and play on the road in a super regional bracket next week.

Central-Carrollton 8, Southeast Whitfield 0

Southeast Whitfield (3-21) fell to Central-Carrollton (18-10) 8-0 on Tuesday as the Lady Raiders were held without a hit.

Central scored five runs in the bottom of the first, but Southeast held Central off the board for three straight innings. Central scored three more in the fifth to end the game.

Southeast plays Christian Heritage today.

Sonoraville 4, Northwest Whitfield 3

Northwest Whitfield (10-17) dropped 4-3 to Sonoraville (19-8) on the road on Tuesday.

Sonoraville won with a walk-off run in the bottom of the eighth.

The Lady Bruins play at Heritage on Thursday to close out the regular season.