FPD, Stratford, Tattnall earn spots in softball Elite Eight

Three of the four Bibb County private school GHSA members advanced to the Class A private school Elite Eight softball championship tournament with doubleheader sweeps Wednesday.

FPD, Stratford and Tattnall Square took care of their first-round opponents and now prepare for trips to Columbus next week. Mount de Sales dropped its opener at Eagle's Landing Christian 10-0, but the results of the second game were not reported to The Telegraph or to online sources as of press time.

At FPD, the Vikings put six runs on the board in the first two innings en route to a 10-1 win in five innings over Excel Christian. The Vikings then scored five runs in the sixth and seventh innings to win the second game 5-1 and advance to Columbus.

Peyton Worsham was the winning pitcher in both games, striking out 15 in the doubleheader. She also had a three-run homer in the fourth inning of the first game and drove home FPD's first run of Game 2 as the Vikings (22-6) qualified for the Elite Eight for the third straight year.

At Stratford, Mary Wilson Avant threw a pair of no-hitters against George Walton, leading the Eagles to 2-0 and 10-2 victories. She struck out six and walked three in both games.

Offensively, Avant went 2-for-2 with a run scored in the opener. In the second game, Tori Dover went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI, while Ashlin Jackson went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Alyssa Orona went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI. Hannah Rae Griffin and Morgan Mathis also had two hits in the second game for Stratford (20-6).

At Tattnall, the Trojans survived a seventh-inning nailbiter against Athens Christian to take the opener 4-3. Athens Christian scored a run and put a runner on second -- all with two out -- before a fly to center ended the game. Caroline Gilbert struck out seven and went 2-for-3 in the win.

Later, Tattnall (26-6) rode a seven-run fifth inning to post a 13-5 victory.

In Class A public, GMC, Telfair County and Wilcox County were among the teams earning trips to Columbus with doubleheader sweeps, while Vidalia advanced in Class AA. Jones County split at Cambridge in Class AAAAA and will play Game 3 of their series Thursday.

This story was originally published October 21, 2015 at 10:19 PM with the headline "FPD, Stratford, Tattnall earn spots in softball Elite Eight ."