Lady Warriors chase top spot in region race

With two weeks left on the regular season softball schedule, the biggest issue facing the Region 7-AAA teams might be the weather.

Over the past week, most of the teams in region have had games postponed due to the wet weather, and this week hasn't started any better. White County and Cherokee Bluff were set to meet in a key game Monday afternoon, but that game was postponed and will be made up on Wednesday, Sept. 29.

The Lady Warriors (15-3) were able to get on field Tuesday, posting a 8-3 road win at North Hall. The Lady Warriors host Lumpkin County this afternoon and will hold a Cancer Awareness ceremony at 5 p.m., followed by the game at 5:30 p.m.

The Lady Warriors entered the week still in a battle with East Forsyth and Cherokee Bluff for the top spot. East Forsyth beat Lumpkin County 12-3 last Friday to move to 14-0 in region play and solidify their spot at the top of the standings. Cherokee Bluff posted a 7-2 win over Gilmer County last Friday to move to 9-2, while the Lady Warriors are next at 10-3.

Every game on the schedule is important for both Cherokee Bluff and WCHS as they battle to earn a spot in the Top 2 in order to secure a first round series in the Class AAA state playoffs.

The Lady Warriors and Cherokee Bluff will play Friday at 4 p.m. in Cleveland n a makeup game.

“East Forsyth has beaten us and Cherokee Bluff twice to take the lead, so it's really important for us to play well this last time through the region,” WCHS head coach Drew Owens said. “We need to beat Cherokee Bluff, but we can't just focus on them. Even if we beat them and East Forsyth, we can't take any game for granted and lose to somebody that we should beat. So we are taking it one game at a time whether it's East Forsyth, Cherokee Bluff, West Hall or whoever it is.”

Heading into Tuesday's game, the Vandiver and O'Kelly had been putting up some impressive numbers. Vandiver has gotten the bulk of the innings with 83 innings of work.

She has compiled a 1.09 earned run average, allowing only 13 earned runs, posting a 7-3 record with one save, while striking out 38 and walking 12. In region games, she has a 1.36 ERA in 51.1 innings, Vandiver is 5-3 with one save, striking out 33 and walking eight.

O'Kelly has worked 40.2 innings overall, with a 2.92 ERA with 17 earned runs. She is 6-0 with a save, with 44 strikeout and nine walks. In region games, she is 3-0 with a save, with 21 strikeouts and two walks. The pitchers have benefitted from a much-improved defensive effort as the team only has 17 errors on the season.

“Hopefully, we can get some dry weather and get a chance to play some games,” Owens said. “Thanks to the weather we may have a bunch of games stacked up, and that could play in our favor. We've got two pitchers and some of the other teams only have one, so that could help us.

The Lady Warriors are having a very productive season at the plate, hitting .325 as a team heading into Tuesday's matchup.

O'Kelly leads the way with a .482 average (27-56) and has a team-high .554 on base percentage. She also leads the team in home runs (3) and RBI (19). Against region foes, O'Kelly is even better, batting .568 with a .644 OBP, and had all three of home runs and 16 of 19 RBI.

Two young player are also having exceptional seasons so far.

Sophomore centerfielder Gabby Whiddon has up a .481 batting average (26-54) and a .517 OPB through 17 games. Whiddon leads the team with 10 extra base hits, including two home runs, and is second on the team in runs (21) and RBI (17).

In region games, Whiddon is hitting at a .513 clip, with seven doubles, two home runs, 12 RBI and 14 runs.

Freshman Emma Hare quickly found a home in the leadoff spot, batting .362 (21-58) with a .456 OBP.

Hare leads the team with 23 runs and nine stolen bases, and has drive in eight runs. She is batting .366 in region games, with 15 runs and five stolen bases.

Whiddon and Hare, who has played second base and shortstop, have both been flawless in the field and have yet to make an error.

Katelyn Boman and Reagan Dunagan are both hitting above .300 this year. Boman has a .340 batting average, with nine runs, four doubles and four steals.

Dunagan, who missed most of her junior season due to a shoulder injury, is hitting .306 with 12 runs, five RBI, four doubles, and two stolen bases.

“We've hit a consistent spell the past couple of weeks, but we still haven't hit that extra gear,” Owens said. “We want to hit that extra gear these last couple of weeks and keep it going it into the playoffs.

Owens is ready to see how things play out over the final two weeks of the regular season.

“We've had a couple of hiccups where we didn't play well, but we are 15-3,” Owens said. “Two of the loses were one-run games that could have gone either way, but we just couldn't catch a break. We have to keep chomping wood until we catch a break.”

WC post win at North Hall

The Lady Warriors finished off the season sweep of North Hall Tuesday night in Gainesville, knocking off the Lady Trojans 8-3 in the third game between the two teams this fall.

WCHS scored twice in the first inning, twice in the third, once in the fourth, and three times in the seventh inning, and got another stellar effort from Vandiver in the circle on the way to the win.

Vandiver worked a complete game, allowing three runs on six hits and no walks, while striking out four.

Vandiver didn't have much trouble with the Lady Trojans' lineup other than leadoff hitter Olivia Mullins, who had a pair of solo home runs and three of her team's hits.

Whiddon continued her torrid pace at the plate with three hits and three runs for the Lady Warriors, while Dunagan had two hits and drove in three runs.

Hare had a hit, scored three runs and stole a base, while O'Kelly added a hit and an RBI. Katelyn Boman had a hit, Cantrell walked twice, scored a run and drove in a run. Vandiver and Kate Sartain each had an RBI, and Kaylie Holbrook scored a run.