Five teams entered the state softball playoffs last Friday and only

one, Starr's Mill, is still alive.

Whitewater's inaugural varsity season came to an end but Coach

Stacey Smith is proud of her team's efforts.

"They played extremely well all season long and just came up short

this weekend," said Smith.

Whitewater won their first game in the state playoffs by defeating Jones

County 3-2 in 11 innings. Danielle Dickson picked up the win and Megan

Holman went 3-for-5 at the plate with the game-winning RBI double. The

next two games were not as kind, as the Lady Wildcats committed five

errors and fell to Lee County 11-1 and then followed it up with a 5-1

loss to Ware County.

McIntosh, the other representative from AAAA, lost to top-ranked Greenbrier

1-0 in a hard-fought game and then lost to Ware County the following

day.

The Lady Panthers advanced to the final eight in Columbus with wins

over Redan, Groves and Tift County. They will open the final round of

the state tournament on Thursday with a game against Brookwood at 4 p.m.

The winner of that game will play the winner of Kell/Coffee. Last season,

Starr's Mill finished as the state runner-up in Class AAAAA to Kell.

In the Class A tournament, Our Lady of Mercy opened with a 15-5 win

over Washington-Wilkes and then lost to Bowdon 10-4 and trion 11-1. Landmark

Christian lost to Georgia Military Academy 15-0 and then lost to Trion

8-0.