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One First-Inning Swing Decides It: Pace Tops Bartow 3-1 for the Class 6A State Crown

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5 months ago

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One swing in the first inning decided the Class 6A state championship. Pace defeated Bartow 3-1 on Saturday, May 23, at Boombah-Soldiers Creek Park in Longwood, with all three Pace runs scoring in the bottom of the first.

Kamryn Pierce and Gracie Ueberroth opened with back-to-back singles off Bartow pitcher Ryleigh Knowlton, Kylie Reed walked to load the bases, and Britten Kettler doubled to center field on an 0-2 pitch to drive in two runs. Reed then scored on Haley Olivet’s sacrifice bunt, beating the throw home.

Bartow coach Glenn Rutenbar took the blame for the decisive pitch call: “It was 0-2 and I’m calling off the plate curveball. I wish I could take that back. I take the blame.”

From there, Knowlton allowed just one hit the rest of the game and did not walk another batter, and she went 2-for-3 at the plate. But Pace ace Hannah DeMarcus matched her: a complete game, one unearned run on six hits and four walks with five strikeouts, stranding the bases loaded in both the fifth and sixth innings and two more runners in the seventh.

Bartow’s run came in the sixth, when Bailee Ellis walked, Knowlton and Maddie Hamilton singled to load the bases with no outs, and Alyssa Hillman drew a bases-loaded walk before DeMarcus struck out the next two batters to escape. In the seventh, singles by Niamah Johnson and Knowlton brought the winning run to the plate before Hamilton grounded back to DeMarcus for the final out.

The title was Pace’s third in program history — joining 2007 and 2024 — and its second in three years, both recent wins coming over Bartow, in the Patriots’ fourth straight championship-game appearance. Pace finished 27-4 and closed the season on a 10-game winning streak after entering the week ranked No. 1 in the FHSAA. Bartow finished 28-4 and remains stalled at nine state titles. Knowlton finished her season 21-3 with a 1.11 ERA, and Bartow’s Emma Huffman hit .422.

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Buford Rolls Into Columbus: Wolves Outscore Playoff Foes 58-2 on the Road to the GHSA 7A Elite Eight

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2 days ago

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October 23, 2026

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Buford is rolling into Columbus. The Gwinnett County, Atlanta-metro power takes a 26-3 record into the GHSA Class 7A Elite Eight after sweeping its first two playoff rounds and outscoring opponents 58-2 across four postseason games, three of them shutouts. The only runs Buford has allowed all postseason came in a single game, the 10-2 second-round opener against Seckinger.

The Wolves opened with 17-0 and 16-0 wins over Rockdale County, then beat Seckinger 10-2 and 15-0 to clinch their return to Columbus. LG Goldin hit her 10th home run of the season in the second-round opener, Ella Pierce Hensley added her eighth homer, and Ansley Kehren and Taylor Sawyer each drove in three runs in the clincher. Taylor Jackson earned both pitching victories against Seckinger to improve to 11-2. Buford scored at least 10 runs in every one of the four games.

Buford opens the double-elimination Elite Eight against Richmond Hill on Wednesday, October 28, at 3:30 p.m. on Field 5 at the South Commons Softball Complex, with the tournament running October 28-31. Richmond Hill, the Region 1-7A champion, is back in Columbus for the second straight season after sweeping Etowah and outlasting Dacula in three games, clinching that series 4-2 behind Delaney McDonald’s two-run home run.

Wednesday’s winner advances to face North Paulding or Northgate on Thursday, October 29, at 2:45 p.m. on Field 3, while the losing teams meet Thursday at 7:15 p.m. on Field 5 in an elimination game. Buford’s path to a state title starts with a Richmond Hill team that has already survived one three-game series this postseason.

The Columbus finals cap a Georgia season that began August 1, with state champions crowned October 28-31 at South Commons across the GHSA’s seven public divisions, 1A through 7A, and one private division. Buford will try to turn the bracket’s most dominant start into the last trophy of the Georgia season.

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