Top performances: Islands softball reaches Elite Eight for first time in school history
The Islands softball team traveled to Cairo, Georgia, last week for a Class 4A Super Regional, and after losing their first game 7-0 to LaGrange on Tuesday, the Sharks were on the brink of elimination.
But Islands battled back to stay alive and advance to play Wednesday with an 8-0 win over Griffin. On Wednesday, the Sharks avenged their loss to LaGrange with an 8-4 victory and followed that by beating Cairo in two games — taking the first 7-3 and coming from behind to win 13-7 in the second game.
The Sharks advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. Islands (19-7) will face East Forsyth (22-10) this Wednesday in Columbus in its first game in the double-elimination state tournament.
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Senior Devin Long, who has committed to East Carolina University, went 3 for 4 with a triple and two RBIs in the comeback 13-7 win over Cairo that clinched the Elite Eight berth.
Aaliyah Williams, who announced her commitment to play at South Carolina State on Saturday, went 3 for 5 with a double, triple, four runs and four RBIs, while pitching four innings of scoreless relief in the win. Sarah Shearouse had four RBIs for the Sharks in the win.
Williams had a complete game, fanning 10 batters in the 7-3 win over Cairo, as Shearouse (2 for 4, 2 RBIs) and Long (2 for 4, 3 RBIs) led the offense.
Long had a pair of homers and threw a complete game in the 8-4 victory over LaGrange. In the win over Griffin, Long struck out 13 in a complete game as Williams was 2 for 4 with a triple, home run and two RBIs. Adeline Zaragoza also homered for the Sharks and Hailey Hill and Long both went 2 for 3 with an RBI.
Williams said getting to the Elite Eight was huge for a senior class that has reached the Sweet 16 the past three years.
"This gives us a lot of confidence going into the state tournament," Williams said. "We have been trying so hard to get to the Elite 8 and we finally showed it was possible. Every time we got down in a game, we kept the energy up in the dugout and never gave up. We played to the best of our ability."
South Effingham: The Region 2-6A champion, the Mustangs dominated their Super Regional as they outscored three opponents 39-1.
Junior pitcher Bailey Kendziorski is 10-4 with a 1.47 ERA on the season. Whitney Thompson (.453 battling average, 30 RBIs), Emma Darrow (.437 BA, 22 RBIs) and Kenzie Ergle (.394, and 28 RBIs) are offensive leaders on a team stacked with talent.
South Effingham (25-5) faces Lassiter (25-5) in their first round of the Elite Eight in Columbus on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Effingham County: The Rebels (26-5) beat Thomas County Central 13-5, then had a pair of wins over Alcovy 5-4 and 11-3 to punch their ticket to Columbus.
The Rebels, led by senior pitcher Rylee Mills, face Pope (31-1) at 3 p.m. Wednesday in their first game in Columbus.
Bryan County: BCHS (20-6-1) has earned a berth in the Class A Division I Elite Eight. Bryan County beat Temple twice by scores of 8-0 and 9-1, and took down Swainsboro 8-1 to advance.
Troy commit Bekah Johnson is hitting .448 with four homers and 21 RBIs for Bryan County and senior Hayden Joyner is 14-3 in the pitching circle with a 1.08 ERA. Bryan County will face Pepperell (21-2) at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Columbus.
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Volleyball playoffs
Four local teams advanced to the Elite Eight in their respective GHSA state brackets with wins on Saturday.
Savannah Christian, the Region 3-3A champion, swept Mary Persons in three sets. The Raiders, led by Maggie Kyriakides, Maggie Byrd and setter Mary Brit Tallevast, improved to 27-13 on the season.
The Raiders are set to host Sandy Creek (35-16) in a quarterfinal matchup Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
Savannah Arts: The Panthers looked sharp as they swept Eagle's Landing Christian 25-20, 25-23, 30-28 — coming back from a 22-16 deficit in the third set to win it.
Lillie Coffey had 39 assists and seven aces, Valerie Kirk added five aces and six kills, and Finn Higginbotham (seven kills) and Torrin Higginbotham (five kills) were also key contributors. Abbey Kate Daugherty led the Panthers with 20 kills.
Savannah Arts Academy (39-4) is set to host Providence Christian (35-15) in a Class 2A quarterfinal at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
St. Vincent's: A No. 2 seed out of Region 3-3A, the Saints beat visiting Harlem 25-9, 25-12, 25-10 in an impressive Sweet 16 win on Saturday.
Mattie Lynch had nine kills and five blocks, Alana Beddow had eight kills and four blocks and Mary Sophia Fischer had 25 kills and six aces to lead the Saints.
SVA (27-11) will be on the road to face Oconee County (45-7) on Tuesday at a time to be announced.
Woodville-Tompkins: The Wolverines punched their ticket to the Elite Eight by sweeping visiting Taylor County on Saturday. The Wolverines improved to 14-13 on the season and are set to host Mount Vernon (18-19) in a Class A quarterfinal Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Islands: The Sharks saw their season come to an end Saturday as the host squad was swept by Starr's Mill 25-19, 25-16, 25-19.
The Sharks finished the season with a 32-7 record. It was the final match for Islands star Veronica Sierzant, who will continue her volleyball career at Syracuse next fall.
It was an emotional scene in the locker room after the match, Islands coach Jessica Decker said.
"There were a lot of tears," Decker said. "Veronica is a once-in-a-lifetime type of athlete to get to coach. Her leadership since she has been here has been incredible."
It was also the final match for setter Aislinn Lanigan, Delaney Gordon, Kate Bossler, Jordan Cintron and Swati Shrestha.
"I thought we could come back and win it, but when I saw the final scoreboard hit 25, I realized this was my last high school match and it really hit me hard," Sierzant said.
"I got emotional. I'm excited about playing at Syracuse, but it's going to be hard to leave all my best friends and coaches here at Islands. They mean so much to me."
Cross Country
Benedictine won the boys team title at the Savannah Private School Championship at Savannah Country Day on Thursday, edging Savannah Christian 36-41.
Savannah Country Day won the girls title, edging St, Vincent's 33-37.
John Ryan of Savannah Country Day won the boys race, covering the 3.1-mile course in 16:28.60. Benedictine's John Dodson (16:32.50) was second, as Savannah Christian's JT Gard (17:28.30), Calvary Day's Jackson Jones (17:59.20) and Asher Herrin of Benedictine (18:04.40) rounded out the top five individual finishers.
Sarah Jane Schulze of SCD won the girls race in 21:16.70, with Alden Groover of SVA second in 22:04.50. Audrey Buck of Calvary (22:27.10), Alexis Spisso of SVA (22:38.20) and Audrey Wilson of Savannah Christian (22:47.20) rounding out the top five.
The Habersham School: The boys team won the GAPPS DI Region 1 meet in Cumming on Saturday, taking three of the top four spots. Nicholas Aldrich won with a time of 18:10. Henry Brooks was second in 18:21 and Daniil Phillips (19:09) took fourth.
The girls finished second, with Sadie McGarity fifth (23:37) and Gaby Kenard taking sixth (23:39).
Habersham will compete in the GAPPS Division I State meet Saturday at the Georgia Premier Cross Country Course in Macon.
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Islands High softball wins four in a row to qualify for Elite Eight
