SOFTBALL NOTES: One Champ Falls in First Round, Two Advance

Fourth-seeded North Cobb upset top-seeded Camden County in a 6-2, 5-4 sweep in the first round of the state playoffs. In game two, the visiting Warriors needed two sacrifice flies in the bottom of the eight to win – one to tie the game and the other for the win.After giving up two runs to trail 4-2 in the bottom half of the inning, North Cobb scored on Casey Page’s bunt single, followed by Rachel Bartoe and Kaitlyn Lawrence’s sacrifice flies. … No. 3 Blessed Trinity upset host No. 2 Callaway in shutout fashion by sweeping them 11-0, 12-0. They will face River Ridge in the next round, which swept North Oconee 6-2, 8-3. … No. 1 Marist forced a game three against upstart Kell by splitting the first two games 4-7, 6-5. In game one, the Longhorns scored four runs in the sixth to break open the game while the War Eagles won the night cap despite a late rally by Kell to narrow a 6-2 lead to 6-5. … Defending AAA champion White County was swept in the first round while champions Buford and Collins Hill each advanced…. St. Pius X’s Liz Schneider signed her letter-of-intent this past week to play softball at Brenau University. Schneider is a two-time all-state and all-region player and received the offensive player of the year her sophomore year and the region’s player of the year her junior season. She also holds the school’s single season record for batting average (.549), RBIs (37), triples (5) and hits (56). Schneider has also been named to the Dean’s list or received honor roll every semester. “I am very excited to play for the Golden Tigers and study at Brenau,” Schneider remarked.  “I like the positive, competitive attitude of the coaches as well as the overall excellence of the softball program.  I fell in love with the philosophy that Brenau provides for its students.”