3-Peat Complete! Another softball title at HCMS!

(Franklin, GA) — The Heard County Middle School Lady Braves softball team claimed a third straight small school division title Thursday with a 10-2 Championship game win over rival Bowdon.

The Lady Braves earned the home field advantage after another tremendous regular season with only one loss to Carrollton from the large school division.

A 15-0 semifinal win over Temple on Tuesday coupled with the third straight title game win over the Red Devilettes brought home the school’s third straight trophy.

The middle Lady Braves have only lost two games over the last three seasons and are undefeated in small school league games over the same period.

LilyRae Fulford was once again sharp in the title game earning the win after pitching six strong innings and striking out eight batters and only one earned run.

Offensively, Natalie Schneider and Aubree Ussery led the way. Schneider was 2-for-2 with a walk, a double and three RBI’s while Ussery went 2-for-3 with a double, one RBI and a run scored.

For the season, Fulford again had strong stats in the circle fanning 45 betters in just 29 innings with an ERA of just 1.03. The winning pitcher is proud of how her team played in the title game.

Season strikeout leader (45) LilyRae Fuldford (L) and season batting average (.667)leader Aubree Ussery

“We started off really well but it got kind of rough in the last inning when we gave up two runs but we just kept playing together and got those last two outs,” Fulford said after the big win.

Fulford has five different pitches in her arsenal and has been pitching since she was seven years old. the eighth-grader is looking forward to being a Lady Brave at Heard High next year.

“I’m very excited to play at the high school next year but I know I have a lot of work to do and I need to just need to keep working harder and harder to reach my goals,” she says.

Schneider and Chloe Scarbrough also had awesome seasons on the mound. Schneider struck out 26 in her 13 innings of work while Scarbrough struck out 13 over eight innings while allowing no earned runs.

Top Lady Brave hitters for the season were Schneider (.538 average, 20 runs scored, 9 steals, 16 RBI’s) Chloe Scarbrough (.500 average, 17 RBI’s, 2 triples, 8 steals), Emily Mock (.536 average, 19 runs, 8 steals, 7 RBI’s), Aubree Ussery (.667 average, 5 doubles, 13 runs), Kallee Crockett (.478 average, 14 RBI’s), LilyRae Fulford (.524 average, 11 RBI’s), Braleigh Watkins (.379 average, 10 steals), Makenlie Lasseter(.333 average, 11 walks, 7 RBI’s), and Alexia Lower (.833 average, 13 runs, 5 steals).

Former Lady Brave pitcher and second year middle school head coach Alicia Carroll was pleased by the girls’ hard work and success this season.

“We’ve been preaching to these girls that anything can happen in the postseason especially with Temple wining their last three games of the season so we tried to make sure these girls were ready to battle and they certainly were up to the challenge today,” said Carroll after Thursday’s third straight title win.