The top-seeded Georgia Gwinnett College softball team came up with two wins over Cottey College (Missouri) to capture its fourth straight Association of Independent Institutions championship Saturday afternoon at the Grizzly Softball Complex.

The Grizzlies (32-11) recorded a hard-fought 4-1 victory in the first contest and then got dominant pitching and consistent offense to take home the conference title with a 10-0 six-inning victory against the Comets.

GGC won three must-win elimination games in the tournament after falling 6-3 to Cottey on Friday.

Junior Piper Wagner was most deserving of the A.I.I. tournament's Most Outstanding Player award after leading the Grizzlies in every way in Saturday's games. At the plate, she went 6-for-7 at the plate with four doubles and one triple, including a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBI in the deciding game. Then, in the pitching circle, Wagner had 10 strikeouts and scattered three hits in Saturday's first game, forcing the winner-take-all championship round showdown.

Cottey (27-11) took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning against Wagner in the first game of the day. That score came an RBI double from Lauren Johnson.

It took two more innings until GGC could finally get on the scoreboard, answering with a four-run sixth inning. Junior Holly Janco lined a base hit through the right side of the infield to tie the game at 1-1. Freshman Josie Haulk gave the team a 2-1 lead with an RBI ground out. A defensive throwing error at home plate allowed an additional run to score for a 3-1 advantage. Freshman Jenna Gabrielli added a run-scoring single to cap the big offensive inning.

In the second game, Wagner's RBI double to left field in the first inning scored freshman Kloey Goins and give the Grizzlies an early 1-0 lead. Two innings later, Wagner again connected on a double to bring home sophomore Lea McFadden. A base hit from Janco extended the lead to 3-0.

The tournament hosts pushed across two runs in the fifth inning and sophomore Sydney Pelaez drilled a three-run home run over the right field fence in the sixth frame to secure the 10-0 victory.

Sophomore Alexa Good struck out seven batters and allowed one hit to improve her record to 20-3 in the pitching circle this season.

Joining Wagner on the all-tournament team were GGC teammates Good, Janco and McFadden.


 
Trailing 1-0 in the late stages of the must-win first game, the Grizzlies struck for four runs in the sixth inning to grab the lead. Junior Holly Janco tied the game with an RBI single through the right side of the infield. Two runs would score on a ground out with the bases loaded from freshman Josie Haulk. Freshman Jenna Gabrielli capped the big inning with an RBI single to center field. The Grizzlies went on to win the game by that 4-1 score and took that offensive momentum into capturing the second game.
 
First Game
Bottom of Fourth
Lauren Johnson lined a run-scoring double to open the scoring
 
Top of Sixth
Holly Janco tied the game, 1-1, with an RBI single through the right side of the infield
Josie Haulk hit a run-producing ground out and a throwing error allowed two more runs to score as GGC took its first lead in games against Cottey in the tournament
Jenna Gabrielli gave the Grizzlies a 4-1 lead with a run-scoring single
 
Second Game
Bottom of First
Piper Wagner gave the Grizzlies a 1-0 lead with an RBI double
 
Bottom of Third
Piper Wagner lined an RBI double to right field to allow Lea McFadden to score
Holly Janco followed with a run-scoring single
 
Bottom of Fifth
Holly Janco extended GGC lead to 5-0 lead with a run-scoring single
Camryn Currie added an RBI single to left field to bring home Sydney Pelaez
 
Bottom of Sixth
Sydney Pelaez connected on a three-run home run to right field in end the game
 

• The Grizzlies tallied 22 hits across the two games, highlighted by 13 hits in the second game
• Junior Piper Wagner went 6-for-7 with four doubles and a triple for the two games
• GGC outhit Cottey by a 13-1 margin in the championship game

• GGC improves to 32-11 for the season, while Cottey drops to 27-11 this spring
• The Grizzlies were ranked No. 8 in the final regular-season NAIA Top 25 poll; Cottey was receiving votes in the same poll
• GGC was the No. 1 seed in the A.I.I. 2021 Softball Championship; Cottey stood as the No. 2 seed in the double-elimination tournament
• The Grizzlies have won four straight A.I.I. tournament titles
• As the remaining finalists in the A.I.I. tournament, GGC and Cottey will represent the conference in the NAIA Opening Round of the 2021 national tournament

Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to host the 2021 NAIA Opening Round from May 17-19 at the Grizzly Softball Complex. The bracket for the tournament will be announced at a later date by the NAIA national office.