By Patrick Yost
Staff Reports

Despite a 1-6 win/loss record in seven games two weeks ago, Morgan County Lady Dogs fast-pitch softball coach Doug Connelly took several positives from a rough week against top-rated opponents.
The Lady Dogs dropped a contest 12-7 against Monticello in a game that included seven errors.
The Lady Dogs entered the Madison County Leadoff Classic with a 3-2 win against  Rockdale County. The tight contest included solo home runs by Victoria Thomas and Audrey Cox. Thomas handled the pitching duties for the Lady Dogs. In a double-header the Lady Dogs lost 6-4 to the No. 2-ranked AAAA Madison County squad. The Lady Dogs took the powerhouse Madison County team to a 4-4 tie with one out remaining when the opponents' clean-up hitter hit a solo home run to take the 5-4 lead. That shot was followed by another solo home-run to clinch the game for Madison County.
The Lady Dogs suffered two costly errors in the fifth that accounted for four of Madison County's runs.
Pitcher Madison Busbee went the distance in the game and gave up two earned runs.
The Lady Dogs scored two runs on suicide squeeze plays in the bottom of the fourth and led the game 3-0. After the disastrous fourth defensively for the Dogs, Cox hit a solo home run in the fourth to tie the game.
Fifth-ranked, AAAAA Greenbriar High School also beat the Lady Dogs 10-4. The Lady Dogs also lost a game to Franklin County 13-4. Both teams, Connelly said, ran the bases well and brought speed and strategy to the games. "I think what we learned is both teams are very fast and gave our defense problems. We're going to have to work on that."
The Lady Dogs concluded the three-day tournament with a 4-3 tie breaker loss to Habersham County that included a solo home run by freshman Aleshia Frierson and a 5-4 loss to Lumpkin County.

Printed in the August 30, 2012 edition