Houston County storms back with big win to force third game

WARNER ROBINS -- The dream postseason run for fourth-seeded River Ridge will have to wait one more day to see if it can move forward.

Already having knocked off a No. 1 seed last week, River Ridge hit the road again and split with Houston County on Wednesday in the second round of the GHSA Class AAAAA softball playoffs, winning the first game 5-2 only to have the Houston County bats come alive in the second game in a 10-1 victory over the Knights.

"We expect to win every time we step out (on the field)," River Ridge coach Andrew Marinelli said. "Our goal is always to get to the next day and we did that. We got hits in situations in the first game that we didn't get in the second. And that just gives a team like (Houston County) ­momentum and if you give a team that can hit that well any momentum, they're going to take it and run with it."

Game 3 will be at 5 p.m. on Thursday at Houston County.

River Ridge pitcher Savannah Flaherity was phenomenal in Game 1, striking out nine batters and allowing just five hits, while the Knights' offense capitalized on four Houston County errors. Brianna Collender and Beth McCullery each collected two hits.

The Knights jumped out early in Game 1 and never looked back, scoring its first run after Houston County pitcher Sarah Smith was called for a balk and pushed its lead to 2-0 on a McCullery RBI single.

Down 3-0, Houston County (25-9) mounted a comeback in the bottom of the second when Shaelin Browne singled to left field to score the Bears' first run. And in the third, Grace Hardee connected on a solo home run to cut the deficit to 3-2, but River Ridge pushed a couple of more runs across the plate on errors by the Bears' defense.

"I thought we came out tight in Game 1," Houston County head coach Angela Crawford said. "I really believe we gave them four of their five runs on errors. We didn't really play bad, but I just thought we were tight."

A bright spot for Houston County, however, was how it responded in Game 2 and might have gained the momentum it needed heading into the deciding Game 3 as it pounded out 15 hits in the nightcap win.

The Bears scored early and often, as Caitlyn Davis smacked a RBI double to right field in the top of the first (Houston County was the visiting team in Game 2) that ignited the offense. Back to back RBI by Davis and Smith in the third pushed the lead to 3-0. Emily Simmons hammered a two-run double to cap off the scoring in the third.

Houston County's Amber Coy accounted for an RBI double in the top of the fourth to stretch the Bears' lead to 6-0, and she added another RBI in the fifth along with Autumn Ring.

"There is no doubt (River Ridge) came in ready to play," Crawford said. "But we were prepared for them and knew that they are not an average four-seed and that they were a very solid four-seed coming out of a very good region. We came out and played Game 2 like we have all year.

"We weren't tight, we weren't scared, we played the game like we have all year."

This story was originally published October 21, 2015 at 10:50 PM with the headline "Houston County storms back with big win to force third game ."