Veterans softball team outlasts Gilmer
KATHLEEN -- Locked in a pitchers' duel that took extra innings to decide, Veterans senior hurler Avery Lamb put to rest three years of frustration and willed her team across the finish the line as Veterans beat Gilmer 2-0 in nine innings Thursday in Game 3 of their series to the GHSA Class AAAA softball Elite Eight in Columbus.
The only senior in a lineup that features six sophomores and a freshman, Lamb was all but perfect.
She picked up the win, working nine innings, surrendering just two hits and striking out a pair.
The Valdosta State commitment was the essence of efficiency, throwing 83 pitches, including 62 for strikes, and coaxing 13 ground ball outs and was supported by a Warhawks defense that didn't commit an error.
"I've wanted to make it (to Columbus) all four years, and this just tops it off senior year," Lamb said. "(Her teammates) don't know what it's been like, and they don't know what it feels like to lose. Being one of the few who do know what it's like to lose, you don't want that for them, and you just have to push."
"I was sore when I came out here, but I knew I had a rest (Friday) whether we win or if we lose, so I just wanted to give it my all because there's no tomorrow."
Gilmer pitcher Savannah Chalfant made sure Veterans' long awaited trip to Columbus wouldn't come easy. She wasn't as effective as when she struck out 13 Warhawks in the first game of the series, but she matched Lamb zero for zero and inning after inning as the two teams finished regulation scoreless.
In accordance with GHSA extra-inning rules, a runner is placed at second base with nobody out to begin the inning. Both pitchers were able to work out of trouble in the eighth to set the stage for the decisive ninth.
Kendyl Sullivan sacrificed Tiara Reynolds to third to start the top half of the inning for Veterans, and Anna Dumas followed with a one-out walk, bringing Kyndall Foster to the plate.
Foster, who entered the at-bat 0-for-3, proved to be the hero as she laced a line-drive double over a drawn-in left fielder to chase both runners around to score and break the deadlock.
"I was actually pretty nervous, and I was just looking for a good pitch to hit," Foster said. "Previously, I had gone after her high ball, so I laid off of those, and (Chalfant) just gave me one straight down the middle."
Lamb took over from there, slamming the door as she worked a perfect ninth inning to set off the celebration.
"We played the schedule we played for moments like that," Veterans head coach David Coffey said. "You have two very good teams and two very, very good pitchers just going head-to-head, and (Thursday) we got the big hit. I'm thrilled to death."
Veterans will play North Oconee at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday in Columbus.
This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 10:24 PM with the headline "Veterans softball team outlasts Gilmer ."