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The Wilcox County Lady Patriot softball team added two wins to their record this week. On Tuesday Wilcox picked up a key region win in Rochelle over Charlton County (11-6 overall, 8-3 in region) by a final score of 8-5. The Lady Patriots then went on the road and defeated Johnson County (12-5 record) by a score of 8-0 on Wednesday afternoon.

Lady Patriots 8, Charlton 5

In Tuesday’s region contest against Charlton County, Wilcox got out to a 4-0 lead after three innings played. Chastity Stephens hit an RBI single in the first inning to score Destiny Tisdol for a 1-0 lead, and Carlee Walls hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the third to put Wilcox up 3-0. A Charlton error later in the third put Wilcox up 4-0.

Charlton County chipped into the Patriot lead with a pair of runs in the top half of the fifth, but Wilcox answered with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth on RBI hits by Maci Martin and Lexie Anderson, giving WCHS a 6-2 lead entering the sixth frame.

Stephens and Mackenzie White each added RBI hits for Wilcox in the bottom of the sixth for the final two Patriot runs of the day. Charlton scored three runs during the top of the seventh to cut into the Wilcox lead, but 8-5 was as close as the visitors got.

Stephens got the win for the Lady Patriots after pitching a seven-inning complete game in which she conceded four earned runs on nine hits and three walks while recording six strikeouts.

Final offensive stats for Wilcox contributors in the win over Charlton County: Tisdol- one hit and one run scored; Grace Keene- one hit and two runs; Walls- three hits (HR and two singles) and two RBIs; Stephens- three hits and two RBIs; Bailee Barnard- two hits and two runs; White- two hits and one RBI; Martin and Anderson- one hit and one RBI each; Sara Nutt and Blakelyn Bloodworth- one run apiece.

Lady Patriots 8, Johnson Co. 0

In Wednesday’s non-region road game at Johnson County, Bloodworth led the Lady Patriots to the victory by pitching a seven-inning complete game shutout, in which she allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out two batters.

Wilcox scored a run in the top of the first inning on an RBI groundout from Walls, and they added another in the top of the third when Tisdol scored on a Johnson County error.

The Lady Patriots piled on six runs in the top of the seventh frame to leave no doubt of the win.

Batting lineup stats for Wilcox in the game were as follows: Tisdol- one hit, one walk, one RBI, and three runs; Grace Keene- three hits (two singles, one double), one walk, two RBIs, and one run; Walls- two hits (both doubles) and three RBIs; Stephens- two walks; Barnard- one hit and one run; Bloodworth- one hit, one walk, and one run; Anderson- one hit and one run; Jalynn Keene- one run.

Following this week’s contests, the Lady Patriots now have an overall record of 13-5 with a 10-2 mark in region competition. As of Friday’s updated GHSA class A power ratings, Wilcox sits at number 13. The top 24 ranked teams in class A make the playoffs at the conclusion of the season.

The Lady Patriots are scheduled for three games next week. On Monday they will play a road game at Wheeler County (14-5), then on Tuesday Wilcox will host region opponent Echols County (3-10) at 5 p.m. in Rochelle. The Lady Patriots close out next week’s schedule with a big road game at region 2-A leaders Lanier County (16-1, 12-0) starting at 6 p.m.