By Wayne Grandy

wayne.grandy@gaflnews.com

MOULTRIE – Region 1-7A champion Colquitt County went 12-3 in league games this season and all three of the defeats came at the hands of defending champion Lowndes.

The Vikettes hit four home runs and took an 11-1 six-inning victory over the Lady Packers on Thursday at Packer Park in the finale regular-season game for the two teams.

The game was the makeup of the second game of a September 25 doubleheader in Moultrie that was postponed by rain.

The Vikettes had won the first game of the doubleheader 8-4 after having shut out the Lady Packers 2-0 two days earlier.

Lowndes finishes 10-5 in the region and will go to the state playoffs as the No. 3 team behind Colquitt County and Richmond Hill.

The Lady Packers will open the playoffs on Wednesday, October 16, with a doubleheader at Packer Park to start the best-of-three series with Etowah High.

Lowndes will travel to Region 5 runner-up North Paulding in the first round as what appears to be a strong No. 3 seed.

The Vikettes are 18-8 overall.

Colquitt will take an 18-10 overall record and, after falling 4-3 at Cairo on Wednesday, a two-game losing streak into the playoffs.

The Lady Packers managed just four hits off the Vikettes’ Madelyn Dailey and committed seven errors behind pitchers Lilah Thompson and young Karleigh Heard, who made her first appearance of the season.

Only four of the seven runs surrendered by Thompson were earned. None of the four that Heard gave up was earned.

Trailing 5-0, Colquitt scored its only run in the bottom of the third on the Vikettes only error.

Lowndes had just nine hits, but received leadoff home runs from Ellie Shaw in both the third and fourth innings, a solo shot by Addison Waring following Shaw’s first homer and a two-out, three-run blast by Taylor Smith in the sixth that gave the Vikettes the 10-run lead.

Dailey struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth to end the game. She finished with 12 strikeouts.

Lanie Burley had a double and a single for the Lady Packers.

RaJayla McBride and Peyton Arrington added singles.

Also in the first round of the playoffs, Tift County, the region’s No. 4 team, will travel to play Region 5 champion North Cobb and runner-up Richmond Hill will play host to Walton.