A little more than 48 hours after taking a 3-0 lead in the first inning of the state championship game, the Pope softball team picked up where it left off Monday afternoon, except in a different place.
After their Georgia High School Association Class 6A finale against Lee County was postponed Saturday due to pouring rain in Columbus, the Greyhounds learned they would get to play at home when the game resumed.
That’s because Pope (30-4), which had lost early in the season to Lee County, was the higher seed.
“At first, they were kind of bummed out, that they wouldn’t have a chance to win it in Columbus,” Pope coach Chris Turco said. “But when they realized they’d get to play in front of their home fans, they got really excited. Having those fans behind us really helped.”
Before a standing-room-only home crowd, Pope tacked on three more runs in the fifth inning for a 6-0 victory.
Pitcher Hallie Adams allowed only one hit, and it was a freshman who gave the Greyhounds some extra breathing room with her bat.
Jaydn Laneaux banged out three hits, including two triples, the latter leading Pope’s big inning.
Even with all of those advantages, Turco wasn’t ready to breathe a sigh of relief.
“I didn’t feel comfortable until the seventh inning,” said Turco, who also led Pope to its other state title in 2014 with pitcher Kelly Barnhill, later a collegiate All-American at the University of Florida.
A year ago, Pope also reached the state finals, but fell to Harrison. Turco said he felt good about Pope’s chances of winning it all with his returning players.
In the fifth inning, Jaydn Laneaux, the younger sister of Pope senior star shortstop Zoe Laneaux, burned around the bases after drilling her second triple into left center field.
Adams brought her home with a bunt that the Lee County pitcher threw home, but too late to get Laneaux. Carolyn Deady, one of Pope’s seniors, singled to center, and Bailey Chapin drove home Emily Ricci with a single to left.
The Greyhounds finished off the scoring—and the Trojans—when Katie Ward hit a grounder to shortstop that resulted in an error, with Zoe Laneaux crossing the plate.
Jaydn Laneaux said her key was that she was prepared for the riseball. “I was confident the whole time, and so was our team,” she said. “We all knew do to whatever it took” to win the game.
“I knew all the fans would come out. We had a huge cheering section and that helped.”
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