The Gilmer Lady Cats Traveled to Rossville Ga on Tuesday for game one of the 6-AAAA region tournament against the 6-6 Lady Panthers of Ridgeland.  The winner of this game will sit good having to get just one more victory to advance further in the tournament.

The Lady Cats could not get anything going in the three inning game.  The home team sent Bryanna Goldsmith to the circle. On just 37 pitches, goldsmith allowed no runs on 4 hits and struckout 2 Lady Cat batters.  The Ridgeland defense didn’t commit any errors behind their pitcher.  The Gilmer side of the box score was unfortunately a different appearance. Taking the circler for Coach Kim Charles and the Gilmer Lady Cats was a combination of Jaylin Vick and Isabella Chastain.  The two Lady Cats pitchers gave a valiant effort in trying to stop the tenacious offense of Ridgeland.  Vick went 2 innings and allowed 6 runs on 4 hits, 2 walks and 2 home runs.  Chastain, in relief worked two thirds of an inning.  The Lady Panthers scored 9 times on 9 hits, 2 walks and 1 home run.

Offensively, the Lady Cats had 4 hits in the game.   Sar Mosley was 2 for 2 with Isabella Chastain at 1 for 1, Mallory Kiser at 1 for 2.  The Lady Panthers pitcher out pitched the Lady Cats in this game and that happens.  There is no shortage of hard work and hustle out of the Gilmer girls. These same teams will go at it again in game two of the best of three series.

In game 2 of the non-region tournament be played by the Lady Cats saw them set in the brackets against the Hiram Hornets out of  Region 7-AAAAAA.  A much bigger school in Hiram could prove to be a challenge for the smaller Lady Cats of Gilmer.

After one complete inning both teams had put up 2 runs each in their halves.  The second would repeat with both teams  scoring  in the respective half inning.  The Hornets and the Lady Cats with one run each set the score tied at three after two innings complete.  That is were the outcome of the game changed in favor of the Lady Cats.  With Hiram getting a run in the top of the third and taking a 4-3 lead, the Gilmer Lady Cats turned up the heat and exploded for 8 runs in their half to take an 11-4 lead that would hold true and give the Lady Cats the win.  Gilmer put up 8 runs on 9 hits including 3 doubles and a triple.

Hannah Bennett took the circle for Gilmer giving up 5 runs all earned on 10 hits.  The Hornets were able to hit 2 long balls off of Bennett.  She also had no walks and 3 strikeouts in the Lady Cats victory.  Several Gilmer batters had excellent performances at the plate. At the forefront, Isabella Chastain was 2 for 2 with 3 RBI, Hannah Bennett went 3 for 3 with 3 RBI. Taylor Elliott and Jasmine Staley both had 2 RBI for the Lady Cats.  As a team the Lady Cats collected 13 hits off of the Hornets pitchers.

With this win the Gilmer Lady Cats live to play another game and will cleat up against the Griffin Bears at 11:30 on Saturday.

On Wednesday Heritage made their way to the home of the Lady Cats for a region match up.  The Generals came and scored early and often on the Lady Cats who struggled to get anything going with the bats.

With the Heritage pitcher overpowering the Lady Cat batters, Gilmer was unable to get any runners on base by way of hit.  They managed to reach on a walk and an error in the third that offered them the only opportunity to push any runs across the plate in the game.  Rachele Gibson went 4 innings and throwing 48 pitches.   Gibson allowed no hits, no runs, 1 walk and 7 strikeouts in the 12-0 mercy rule game.

Jaylin Vick got the start for the Gilmer Lady Cats.  In one inning of work Vick allowed 4 earned runs on 4 hits, 2 walks and one strikeout.  Hannah Bennett came in as relief for Vick to begin the second inning of play.  Bennett did all she could do to cool off the offensive explosion of the Generals.  On 57 pitches thrown by Bennett, she gave up 8 runs(5 earned) on 9 hits. The Generals had one home run and one walk.  Both Lady Cats that entered the circle threw a combined 90 pitches with 58 being strikes and 21 of the 30 batters faced saw first pitch strikes.

The Heritage Generals took the GHSA mercy rule victory by a score of 12-0 in 4 innings of play.

Lafayette will come to the home of the Lady Cats on Thursday for a 5:55 PM start time.

On a day of remembrance as a Nation, the Gilmer Lady Cats exercised one of the freedoms we enjoy as citizens.  The Lady Cats hosted the Ridgeland Panthers on Tuesday in a big region match up.  In need of a win to keep pace in region play, Gilmer needed to find a way to get a victory and that they did.

Jaylin Vick and Hannah Bennett took the circle for the Lady Cats on Tuesday in a combined effort to shut down a powerful Panthers offense.   Jaylin Vick, the starting pitcher for the Lady Cats went three strong innings allowing 2 runs(1 earned) on three hits.  Vick had no strikeouts and 4 walks and threw 45 pitches.  Coming in as relief for Vick in the fourth inning, Hannah Bennett threw 49 pitches allowing only 1 run to the Lady Panthers.  Bennett gave up 3 hits, no walks and had 1 strikeout on the day.  The Gilmer defense played almost flawless committing only 1 error in the game.

The Lady Cats bats were hot as they were pulled from the bags and hung in the dugout.  Gilmer had 11 hits and scored 7 runs over the 7 inning game.  The runs for the Lady Cats were scored in the second inning(5) on 5 singles and a double. The fourth and fifth innings had the Lady Cats put up 1 additional run in each.  The 7 runs in the game would be enough to hold off Ridgeland and get a 7-3 win in region play.

Providing the spark at the plate for the Lady Cats were Mallory Kiser-2 for 3 with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI, Hannah Bennett-2 for 4 with 1 RBI and Emily Dale-2 for 3 with 2 runs scored.  Taylor Elliott and Allison Sirmans also scored one run each for Gilmer.  The Lady Cats had five more players with one hit each in the win.

The Gilmer Lady Cats will be at home on Thursday September 13th as they welcome in the Lafayette Ramblers with hopes of picking up another big region victory.

Game two of the 6-AAAA region tournament for the Gilmer Lady Cats had them in a must win situation.  After the game one defeat at the hands of the Ridgeland Lady Panthers, Gilmer had to get the victory to have hopes of moving forward. One team would advance and one team would end their season.

The Lady Panthers jumped out fast putting a run up in the top of the first on a solo home run by Jenna Morgan. Not being caught off guard, Gilmer answered plus one in their half to take a 2-1 lead early.  Mallory Kiser led off the inning with a hard single to set up Sarah Mosley with an RBI opportunity.  Mosley, looking at a 2 ball and 2 strike count connected on the opponents pitch and drove it deep over the left field fence for a 2 run home run.  The Lady Cats struggled to put anything together through the next several innings.  The Lady Panthers would do everything possible to put the game out of reach by adding runs to the board in the second(4), third(1) and fifth(3) to take a 9-2 lead in to the bottom of the seventh.  Gilmer fought hard to mount a comeback win but fell short.  The 4 runs in their half of the seventh left them shy 3 runs of the tie and 4 short of a win to end the 2018 season.  The 11 hits and 6 runs by Gilmer in the game were accomplished from several Lady Cats having a good day at the plate.  Jayd Hamby led the Gilmer batters going 3 for 3 with 3 RBI and 1 run scored.  Mallory Kiser was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and Sara Mosley was 1 for 3 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored.  Hannah Bennett took the loss in the circle.  Bennett threw 117 pitches and allowed 9 runs on 15 hits including a walk and a home run.  Hannah struck out 7 Lady Panthers in the game.

The Lady Cats will start preparing for the 2019 season and the possibility of a new coach.  The big decision to be made in the off season is whether or not Coach Kim Charles chooses to retire or to continue as the staple of Gilmer softball.

With the season winding down the Knights of River Ridge came to the home of the Lady Cats and left with a big region victory. The Lady Cats couldn’t get the offense in sync and put anything together in the game.

With only 2 hits and 3 hits in the game, The Lady Cats struggled against the combination of Caprice Johnson and Gracie Hughes of River Ridge. Jasmine Staley was 1 for 2 with no strikeouts or walks and Sarah Mosley was 1 for 1 with  a walk in the game for Gilmer.  The Lady scored their only run in the bottom of the first inning.  Two Lady Cats entered the Circle for Gilmer with Hannah Bennett getting the start. In Bennett’s 3 innings of work she allowed 7 runs(5 earned) on 10 hits with no strikeouts or walks.  Jaylin Vick came in as relief for Bennett to start the fourth.  On 27 pitches Vick gave up 1 hit and 2 runs both earned.  The Gilmer relief pitcher walked 3 Knights batters in 2 innings from the circle.

Gilmer sitting at 8-11 overall will travel to Southeast Whitfield on Thursday for a 5:55 PM game.

Tuesday the Lady Cats of Gilmer traveled to Whitfield County to play their region foe in the Bruins of Northwest Whitfield.  Wanting to revenge an early season lost at the hands of the Lady Bruins.  Gilmer was energized and ready as the stepped off the bus.

Gilmer being the visiting team stepped to the plate for the top of inning number 1.  Mallory Kiser led off the game with a walk. After advancing to second on a single by Carly Chadwick, Kiser was tagged out on a base running error at the bag. With Chadwick on first, Sarah Mosley took a 1-2 pitch deep and over the fence for 2 RBI and the first runs on the board.  That lead held in to the bottom of the inning with Northwest breaking the zero on their side by putting up 3 to take a one run lead.  In a back and forth  game to this point, the Lady Cats added 3 runs on on 4 hits in the top of the 4th to regain the lead once again over the Lady Bruins by a score of 5-3.  Hits in the inning belong to Hannah Bennett, Mallory Kiser, Taylor Elliott, and Isabella Chastain.  The Gilmer Lady Cats remained at 5 for the last two innings with Northwest putting up game winning hits.  The Gilmer defense fell short in the bottom of the fifth committing 3 errors and allowing 4 hits and 6 runs to the Lady Bruins.  The home team would add 4 more runs in the bottom of the sixth and close out the game with a 13-5 victory.

The Lady Cats batters put up 10 hits in the game with Mosley, Elliott and Bennett having a multiple hit day. Chastain, Kiser, Chadwick and Sirmans all had 1 hit each in the defeat,  Hannah Bennett took the loss throwing 93 pitches.  Lady Bruin bayyers had 17 hits with 13 runs(6 earned) and 2 walks in the game.  Bennett also struck out 1.

The Lady Cats will host the Dragonettes of Pickens on Thursday as part of the Hwy 515 rivalry taking place this week.  The Gilmer football team will play the Dragons on Friday at Dragon Stadium.  Start time for softball is 5:55 PM and kick off for Friday is at 7:30 PM.

The Lady Cats traveled to River Ridge High School on Wednesday for a 7 PM region game against the Knights.  Having suffered two last inning losses in the last 2 games, the Lady Cats were on the prowl and hungry for a win.

Lead off batter Jayd Hamby would be the first base runner for the Lady Cats.  With an excellent eye at the plate, Hamby coaxed a walk and immediately advanced to second on a wild pitch from Gracie Hughes in the circle for the Knights. Mallory Kiser would be sat down looking at strike three on the sixth pitch of the at bat with Hamby staying at second base.  Getting the only run on the board, Jasmine Staley hit a pop up to right field that was mishandled allowing her to reach base and Hamby to cross the plate for the unearned run.  Taylor Elliott, in her only hit of the day shot a groundball to shortstop reaching first safely and advancing Staley to second.  Both runners were left there at inning’s end.

Making the start for Gilmer in the circle was Jaylin Vick. She threw 43 pitches with 24 being strikes and giving up three hits and two runs both earned.  Vick walked two Knights batters and struck out one.  Coming in relief, Hanna Bennett let 31 pitches leave her hand with 21 being strikes.  Bennett gave up two runs with one earned.  She had no walks and one strikeout. Vick took the loss to the Knights of River Ridge despite pitching a very good game.  The defense behind Vick and Bennett committed 4 errors aiding in the four runs put up by River Ridge.  Getting the hits for the Lady Cats were Emily Dale and Taylor Elliott with one each and Mallory Kiser putting two hits in the books.

With the Lady Cats on a four game skid after the loss to the Knights and looking to get back on track, Heritage came in on Thursday.  The game was postponed in the top of the fifth with Heritage up 6-1 on the board.  There has not been any updates for the completion of the game at the time of this article.

Next up for the Lady Cats of Gilmer will be September 4, 2018 at home as they welcome Southeast Whitfield for a 5:55 start time.

Thursday After noon saw a perfect day for the Gilmer Lady Cats to welcome the Lady Bruins of Northwest Whitfield to their home field.  This game being a region match, it was very important for Coach Kim Charles and the Lady Cats to come out with a win at the end of the day.

With Jaylin Vick in the circle, Gilmer shut down Northwest Whitfield in the top of the first allowing no runs.  With the Lady Cats coming to the plate in the bottom of the first no time was wasted in getting base runners and putting a run across the plate.  Jayd Hamby led off with a single passed 3rd base.  Jasmine Staley stepped to the plate determined to get things started right and get Gilmer the lead.  That she did as she ripped a single scoring Hamby to give the Lady Cats a 1-0 lead.  The Lady Cats would have several opportunities to put runs on the board with to no avail.  In the seven inning game Gilmer had 14 hits, 7 strikeouts and 1 walk.

The Gilmer defense held the Lady Bruins scoreless through 6 innings with Vick allowing 11 hits on the day.  When the seventh inning started, the Lady Cats confidence in getting the victory was high as they had pretty much shut down their opponent all game.  Unfortunately for Gilmer, Northwest Whitfield found their second wind and turned up the heat on the Lady Cats.

Without any warning the wheels fell off for the home team.  Northwest Whitfield scored six runs on a combination of well placed hits and a 4 Lady Cat miscues.  In the home half of the seventh inning the Lady Cats made a surge to tie the game and possibly have some last chance heroics.  Hamby led off with a hard single and was thrown out attempting to swipe 2nd.  Mallory Kiser with a single advanced Jasmine Staley to second after her fourth hit on the day.  With one out and 2 runners on base up came Hannah Bennett to the plate.  Bennett hit a rise ball down the right field line that found the woods behind the fence.  The three run home run brought the score to 6-4 with no one out.  The next two batters would ground out and strike out to end the game leaving the score at 6-4 and a loss for the Lady Cats of Gilmer.

Stand outs for the Lady Cats at the plate were Jasmine Staley(4-4), Jayd Hamby(3-4) and Mallory Kiser(2-4).Next up for Gilmer Varsity Softball will be at Pickens on Tuesday starting at 5:55 pm.