By Wayne Grandy

wayne.grandy@gaflnews.com

MOULTRIE – Etowah scored five runs in its final at bat to defeat Colquitt County 11-10 on Wednesday in the second game of their Class 6A state playoff series doubleheader at Packer Park, forcing a deciding game at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Lanie Burley’s two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the fifth inning gave Colquitt County a 5-4 lead and the Lady Packers went on to take a 6-4 win in the first game.

But in the second game, as the temperatures dropped, each team scored in every inning except the Lady Packers, who, playing as the visiting team, could not score a game-tying run in the top the seventh.

Colquitt led 10-6 heading into the bottom of the sixth when the Eagles strung together five hits – including a bunt single that scored two runs – and a walk and then took advantage of an outfield throwing error to score the run that enabled them to take the lead.

The Region 1-6A champion Lady Packers must win Thursday’s final game of the best-of-3 series to advance to the second round and face Mill Creek, which eliminated Chapel Hill, winning 16-7,17-2 on Wednesday.

Colquitt will take a 19-11 record into Thursday’s game.

Region 6 runner-up Richmond Hill was eliminated with Walton taking 8-4 and 6-3 wins.

Lowndes was ousted by North Paulding 1-0, 6-5.

Region 6’s No. 4 team, Tift County, forced a deciding game today at North Cobb by winning the second game of their doubleheader 4-0. The Lady Devils had dropped Game 1, 5-3.

Etowah had a 4-3 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth of the first game when Burley laced a base hit to center field to score Peyton Arrington and Libby Wetherington, both of whom had reached on infield errors.

Kamry Paulk followed Burley’s hit with a double to left to drive in the insurance run.

Arrington gave up three runs in the third and another in the fourth, but allowed just one base runner over the final three-plus innings. She retired 11 of the final 12 Lady Eagles she faced.

The junior right-hander gave up just five hits, but just two other than the three the Eagles managed in the third. She struck out 10, including two of the last three batters of the game.

She is now 10-3 this season.

The Lady Packers had seven hits in Game 1 including two by Burley, the junior catcher.

Arrington, Paulk, RaJayla McBride, Rheygan Harrell and Allie Eure had the others.

Arrington and Eure also drove in runs.

Etowah, which drove down from Woodstock and was forced to stay in Albany because of the lack of hotel rooms in Moultrie caused by the annual Sunbelt Ag Exposition, led 2-1 after the first inning of Game 2.

But the Eagles never led again until the sixth inning when Cameron Greene’s single tied the game 10-10.

But when the throw back to the infield went awry, Gigi Vitamanti, who had been on first, scored the go-ahead run.

The Lady Packers nearly got a game-tying run in the top of the seventh when Rhylee Tillery lined a two-out single to center.

But Ella Jorgensen made a diving catch of Wetherington’s sinking liner in left center field to end the game.

Wetherington came up big in the second game, with three hits, including a two-run homer in the fifth, a double and a single. She drove in three runs.

McBride, Arrington, Tillery, Burley and Harrell each added two hits to the Lady Packers 15-hit attack.

One of Burley’s hits was a home run that led off the sixth inning and gave Colquitt at 10-6 lead.

But the Lady Packers committed three errors leading to four unearned Etowah runs.

Colquitt also left eight runners stranded – including six in the first two innings – and ran into three double plays.