SHS Softball returns to action

Hurricane Helene turned out to be one of the biggest and most destructive storms on record for the southeastern part of the United States. Death, destruction, power outages, locating gas, and feeding our neighbors were all we knew for a week or more after the storm, but the folks in this area are resilient and life slowly began to return to normal. As we began to recover and got the kids back to school, the healing process was in full swing and in this part of the country, nothing seems to help the healing process like sports!

With the softball season coming to an end and all regular season games having to be finished by Saturday, October 12, Coach Alicia Hendrix and the other coaches of Region 3 had to make significant changes to their schedules. Swainsboro was forced to cancel their remaining non-region games in order to squeeze in their remaining region games. In order to make things work, Swainsboro would have to play four games in three days – all on the road.

So, after a two week layoff due to the hurricane, the Lady Tigers finally returned to action last Tuesday night (October 8) in Savannah against region foe St. Vincent’s Academy. Coming off the long break, it was understandable that it may take the players a little while to get back into the groove of things. Well, it didn’t take the pitchers long to get going. From the outset of the game, the two starting pitchers were firing on all cylinders and sitting down the opposing batters right and left. After the seven innings of regulation play, the score was tied 1-1 and the pitchers had combined for a total of 27 strikeouts in the game.

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After a scoreless eighth inning, the Swainsboro bats finally came to life in the top of the ninth inning as the Lady Tigers scored seven runs in the inning on their way to an 8-3 extra-innings victory. A bases loaded triple by short stop Berklie Bishop was the big blow that finally broke the game open for Swainsboro. Chloe Boulineau went the distance in the circle for the Lady Tigers as she pitched all nine innings and allowed just three runs on three hits and two walks while striking out 17 Lady Saints. Leading hitters on the night for Swainsboro were Berklie Bishop (2-4, 3 RBI), Gracie Beneteau (2-5), Kyleight Hostillo (2-5), and Chloe Boulineau (2-5)). Sara Smith, Izzy Baird, Carley Jersey, and Ariel Tapley also chipped in with a hit.

On Wednesday, Swainsboro travelled to Vidalia for double header. Once again, the Lady Tigers struggled to mount much offense. Four different pitchers stepped into the pitcher’s circle on the day for the Lady Tigers but the Indian offense was just too much for Swainsboro to contain. Swainsboro was defeated in both games of the double-header.

On Thursday, Swainsboro headed back to Savannah for a match-up against Savannah Christian. Izzy Baird doubled with the bases loaded in the top of the third inning to put Swainsboro up by a score of 4-2. Going to the bottom of the fifth inning, the score was tied 4-4 but a couple of costly Swainsboro errors allowed the game to quickly get away from them and the Lady Tigers eventually found themselves on the losing end of the 12-4 game. Kayla Crabb led the Lady Tigers with two hits on the night.

The Lady Tigers will be back in action Friday, October 18 for the opening round of the GHSA playoffs.