Although the Columbia Academy Lady Cougars’ season came to an end Monday in Magee at the State Tournament, they surpassed expectations and finished fourth in the state in Class 3A.
With 16 teams making the South and North State Tournaments, Columbia Academy (18-15) went in as one of the bottom four teams but ended up placing in the Top 4. Head coach Kyle Wilks said the run over the past month has been unbelievable, and it’s a testament to how hard the Lady Cougars have worked since May. He said going into South State they felt like they could make a run with how well they were playing to close the regular season, and it carried into the two tournaments.
“A short time ago we were winning one or two ball games a year, and to finish fourth in 3A and go 18-15 this year is definitely something to be proud of,” he said.
In the State Tournament in Magee, CA beat North Delta School Saturday then lost to Clinton Christian later that night. The Lady Cougars won their first game in the losers’ bracket Monday against Winona Christian before being bounced by Bowling Green.
The Lady Cougars are losing two long-time starters in catcher Megan Rowley and center fielder Maddie Claire Sauls to graduation, but they will return seven starters next season and multiple other players who got a lot of playing time.
“Obviously it’s exciting to look down the road because we did get a lot of these younger girls an opportunity to play. The experience they got this year playing at a young age is only going to help them moving forward. It’s going to be a fun ride the next couple of years,” Wilks said.
One player who has a particularly bright future is sixth-grader Macey Branch, who was CA’s ace in the circle this year and pitched most of the games in the two tournaments.
“Right now she has a chance to be really, really special. With that comes a lot of hard work. As a pitcher you have to continue to work to get better each and every year. To be able to go out there at 11 years old and pitch against the teams she did is pretty impressive,” Wilks said. “Next year Macey Branch is going into junior high, and she’s been facing players who next year will be playing at the JUCO level.”
Maggie Wilks’ three hits and Briley Sullivan’s 3 RBI led the Cougars to its 11-6 win over North Delta Saturday. Branch pitched all seven innings to get the win, striking out three. However, the Lady Cougars were held to just three hits in a 10-0 loss to Clinton Christian.
“They’re just such a good team. Their pitcher is going to Jones (College) next year, and it’s just hard to score runs in bunches against someone like her,” Wilks said.
In CA’s 12-7 victory over Winona Monday, Megan Rowley started it off in the top of the first with an RBI single, but Winona answered with a leadoff double followed by an RBI single to knot it at 1-1. The Lady Cougars then took a lead in the third inning that they never surrendered.
Abi Williams led off with a single, then Allie Watts walked. Rowley reached on a throwing error that scored Williams. Then Sauls ripped a two-run double to right center to put CA up 4-1. Branch made sure CA kept the momentum with an impressive four-pitch third inning.
Winona was able to cut the lead to 4-2 on a weird play that there isn’t a rule for. They were playing a field too large for softball so there was a makeshift soft fence acting as the outfield wall. After a Winona single, Sauls was drifting back on a long fly ball that went over her head and she ran through the soft fence and fell over on the other side. Since she was unable to get back over, it allowed Winona to score the runner from first in what turned out to be a double.
CA added two more runs in the fifth with Briley Sullivan roping a single to score Presley Dease, who reached on an infield single and stole second base, and Alana Bullock bringing in Sullivan with a single. Winona answered in the bottom half of the inning with back-to-back CA errors making it 6-4.
Dease made sure Winona wouldn’t be able to come back, though, in the top of the sixth. Following singles by Watts and Rowley, Dease turned on an inside pitch and crushed a three-run home to make it 9-4. Then in the seventh inning, Williams had an RBI double and Watts brought home two runs with an infield single, with the second run scoring on a throwing error. Winona did score three runs in the bottom half, but it was too little too late.
In what turned out to be CA’s final game of the year Monday afternoon in a 15-7 loss to Bowling Green, Rowley scored Williams on a sacrifice fly to give the Lady Cougars a first-inning lead. After Bowling Green tied it 1-1 in the bottom half of the first inning, Maggie Wilks put CA back on top with a sac fly with the bases loaded that made it 2-1.
The Lady Buccaneers tied it in the bottom half of the second then took the lead with a four-run third inning. It was an ugly defensive inning for CA with a walk, two passed balls and a sac fly scoring the first run, then an error extended the inning and led to three RBI singles to make it 6-2. They added two more runs in the fourth inning to lead 8-2, but CA got back in it in the top of the fifth.
Watts got a rally started with a double and scored on a Rowley single. Dease then singled, and Sauls brought home a run with a double. With runners on second and third, Sullivan ripped a two-run double down the line to cut the deficit to 8-6.
However, Bowling Green answered right back with six runs in the bottom half to take a commanding 14-6 lead. Watts delivered with an RBI double to score Williams in the sixth inning, but the Lady Cougars couldn’t muster enough offense to mount a comeback.
“We didn’t play bad; they just beat us,” Wilks said. “It was just like every time we scored one, they’d score two. If we scored two, they’d score four. They’re a really good hitting team top to bottom. We were kind of on fumes at that point, but I’m super proud of our girls and how we finished.”
