Garner goes yard in GMC opener
Aug. 10—The GMC Prep softball team kicked off the season with a win on Couch Field Monday, defeating the Lake Oconee Academy Lady Titans 5-1.
The Lady Dogs (1-0) plated two in the first, two in the fifth, and one in the sixth to grab their first victory of 2022.
The Lady Titans, meanwhile, dropped to 0-2 and pushed their only run across in the seventh despite threatening multiple times throughout in the non-region contest.
That was partially due to GMC Prep's strong pitching and defense, two facets of the game head coach Jennifer Deason says are already in midseason form.
"Our pitching is right where we want it to be, and I have a ton of confidence in the defense behind our pitcher," said Deason. "I think we can compete with anybody defensively."
Offensively, the Lady Dogs totaled six hits off LOA hurler Jacy Singleton. The GMC head coach knows the potential for more production is there. She's hoping that will come as her team sees more and more live pitching.
"We have the mechanics to be a strong offensive team," Deason added. "This was our first game, so we have some kinks to work out. Overall, I was pleased with what I saw, but there's definitely more in the tank."
Both teams were raring to go by the game's 6 p.m. start time, but Mother Nature had other plans. GMC Prep senior pitcher Leah Jannakos was seconds from firing the first pitch when lightning in the area forced a delay. The two teams returned to their respective dugouts knowing they would have to wait at least 30 minutes for the all-clear.
Once that was given, it was game on. Jannakos, the reining All-County Softball Player of the Year, pitched around an early baserunner to hold the contest scoreless heading into the bottom half of the first. That's where the home team struck. The Lady Dogs played a little small ball and were rewarded as senior leadoff hitter Riley Barsby touched home on a sharp single off the bat of sophomore Hannah Garner. Coco Rudolph worked a bases-loaded walk to tack on to her team's total, making it 2-0 GMC after one.
There the score remained until the fifth when Garner, who hit for a whopping .533 average as a freshman, put her left-handed bat to work again. Her second hit went way further than her first as it bounced off the top of the right field fence for a two-run homer, her first as a varsity softball player. The two-out big knock made it 4-0 Lady Dogs heading into the sixth.
Jannakos sat the Lady Titans down in order in the penultimate frame, adding two strikeouts to her ledger. Barsby brought home another insurance run in the bottom half of the sixth before LOA took its final turn at bat. Two hits had the visitors from nearby Greensboro moving in the right direction. The second was a rocket double off the bat of Gracie Stanford that notched the Lady Titans' only run. Jannakos got out of trouble though by inducing a popout to shortstop before striking out two more batters, giving her nine Ks in the opener. The hard-throwing righty is well on her way to striking out better than a batter per inning like she did a year ago.
The Lady Dogs look to keep to their winning ways Saturday when they host Brentwood of Sandersville in a 12 noon first pitch.
