By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

CENTRE – Piedmont softball coach Rachel Smith had a busy Monday.

Smith was part of the Bulldog baseball team’s senior day festivities at home against Ohatchee for her son Sloan. Then, she took off north on Highway 9 to Centre to coach her team against rival Cherokee County.

She arrived just in time to see her daughter Savannah Smith’s two-run homer to left field in the top of the first inning. The Class 3A, No. 4 Lady Bulldogs later added single runs in the top of the fifth and seventh innings to take a 4-0 victory over the Lady Warriors.

“If there ever was a time where I wish I could be two places at once, tonight was the night,” Smith said. “That was a nice welcome. I was glad to see her be able to send one out today and help herself out a little bit (in the circle).”

As Coach Smith said, her daughter earned the win for the Lady Bulldogs (26-10) after going the distance. She scattered six hits with no walks and three strikeouts after battling a swirling wind.

Not bad for someone who wasn’t expected to throw on Monday.

“We weren’t really planning on throwing Savannah, but she said she felt really good so we decided to put her in the circle,” Coach Smith said.

Savannah Smith said she didn’t alter anything to her pitches in the wind. She “just threw across the plate.”

“I guess the wind was my friend today,” she said. “We had a lot of popups that were blowing back in and the outfield was able to catch them. They did a really good job today. They (Cherokee County) hit the ball and our defense made the plays. It was just a good day all around defensively and offensively too.”

As for her home run, Savannah Smith said she really didn’t know it went out when she hit it.

“I thought I had popped it up honestly. The wind did help me there,” she said.

The Lady Warriors (17-9) had their chances to score against Savannah Smith, but they left eight runners on base in the game, including the first, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

“We knew coming in Savannah had a little spin and speed behind her, so we were trying to prepare for that,” Cherokee County coach Brad Weaver said. “We hit the ball well at times, it’s just the timely hit wasn’t there against her. Their defense was solid behind her. That’s a really good Piedmont team.”

The Lady Warriors’ best chance to score was in the bottom of the fifth.

Nine-hole hitter Audrey Haygood reached on an error and made her way around to third. With one out, Lady Warrior pitcher Emma Hill sent a pop fly to Piedmont right fielder Ava Pope. Pope caught the ball and relayed home to catcher Casey Brothers, who tagged Haygood out at the plate to end the inning.

“We pride ourselves on being good defensively. That’s something we work on a lot at practice,” Coach Smith said. “We work on situations where we have to get an out in right field and throw a runner out at the plate like we did, and we have to be able to defend the bunt because good teams are going to be able to swing and short-game you.

“Hitting, throwing and catching are the name of the game. The defensive part is throwing and catching. That’s 2/3 of it. We pride ourselves on being good at that. We’re not good at it every day, but today they looked pretty sharp.”

Raechel Russell led the Lady Warriors at the plate by going 2-for-3. Lanie Williams and Abby Lea both doubled. Macy Lea added an infield single. Haygood delivered a single to center in the seventh but was caught stealing to end the game.

Hill suffered the tough-luck loss. She gave up three earned runs on seven hits with a walk and 12 strikeouts.

“She pitched a great game. She hit her spots,” Weaver said of Hill. “Even that one Savannah hit out was an outside pitch. She just threw her hands out and got a hold of it.”

Savannah Smith led Piedmont at the plate by going 2-for-3. In addition to her first-inning homer, she also belted a double to left in the third.

Jaycee Glover also had a pair of hits and scored a run in the fifth on a throwing error. Sarah Goss, Jenna Calvert and Cayla Brothers each had a hit. Goss drove in a run and Calvert scored a run.

Both teams jump back into area play on Tuesday. Piedmont travels to Wellborn in Class 3A, Area 10 action while Cherokee County hosts Oneonta, with both games scheduled for 4:30 p.m. A Lady Warrior win over Oneonta clinches the Class 4A, Area 12 regular season title.