2021 A.I.I. Softball

Scoreboard

Events and Results

Georgia Gwinnett College Athletics

Georgia Gwinnett Grizzlies

Championship Comeback

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.