WC-MGC split conference doubleheader

April 19, 2012

Waycross College’s women’s softball team earned a split Wednesday afternoon against conference foe Middle Georgia College. The Swamp Foxes (24-13, 11-5 GCAA) edged the Warriors in the first game, 2-1, and lost an almost three-hour battle in game two, 9-8.

With the forecast calling for rain to arrive in Waycross Wednesday afternoon, inclement weather crept into the area during the first game, eventually making its presence known in the bottom of the sixth inning of the second game. The result was two rain delays totaling 45 minutes.

Before the weather interruption, game two was a back-and-forth affair with Middle Georgia striking first in the top of the first with a solo home run.

The Swamp Foxes tied the game in the bottom of the second when Jasmine Garcia scored on a throwing error by the Warriors. WC would extend its lead in the bottom of the third inning on Kylie Tierce’s three-run home run to left field, giving the Swamp Foxes a 4-1 lead.

Middle Georgia overcame its three-run deficit over the next two innings, capped off by a two-run home run in the top of the fifth to tie the game again, 4-4. The Warriors utilized a four-run sixth inning to take back the lead, 8-4.

After Rachel White reached on an error by Middle Georgia’s shortstop in the bottom of the sixth, play was stopped 15 minutes for rain as the teams and their fans huddled under the main concession building at Trembling Earth Complex.

When the teams took the field again, WC’s Jessica Ball saw only a couple of pitches before officials moved everyone back to the concession building for the second delay.

When play resumed thirty minutes later, Ball earned a walk, which began a torrid Swamp Fox comeback. Alex Wood’s double down the left field line scored White and Ball to bring the Swamp Foxes to within two, 8-6.

Katelyn Baxley’s single over the second baseman’s head scored Wood to cut the Warrior lead to 8-7. Baxley would eventually score to tie the game on another throwing error by Middle Georgia.

An RBI single in the top of the seventh gave Middle Georgia the lead again, 9-8. The Warriors held the Swamp Foxes in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win.

The Swamp Foxes travel to Douglas Friday to face South Georgia College. The team will return home April 23 for its final home doubleheader of the season against Florida State College of Jacksonville. The first game of the doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m. Swamp Fox sophomores will be honored prior to the start of the first game.

All home doubleheaders are played at the Trembling Earth Complex in Waycross.

Waycross College has been a proud member of the University System of Georgia since the college’s founding in 1976.