Wayne County scored six runs in the bottom of the second inning to end any hopes of Statesboro’s quest for a White Bracket championship Saturday at the 2007 Battle in the ‘Boro Tournament. The Lady Yellow Jackets cruised to an 11-1 win over the Lady Blue Devils (2-6) in what was deemed a successful tournament overall.
    “I think the tournament went well,” said SHS coach Karry Parker. “There was some very competitive softball out here (at Mill Creek) — a great facility as always and some good softball from Savannah, Atlanta and all over.”
    The Ola Lady Mustangs, out of McDonough, ran the table in the two-day tournament, finishing with a 3-1 win over Heritage for the championship in the Gold Bracket. Effingham County topped Lakeside 5-0 in the Silver Bracket Championship and Valdosta beat Colquit County 5-2 to take the Bronze Bracket.
    As for SHS, the Devils notched their first two wins of the season and finished the weekend at 2-3.
    “We improved on a lot of things but we still made way too many errors to come out as good as we should have,” said Blue Devils pitcher Brittany Raines. “I guess we just realized we need to focus a little bit more and cut down on the errors — put the tiredness out of our minds and focus on the game instead of dragging it out.”
    The Wayne County game was the culmination of three  contests for SHS on a hot and muggy day which started with a 7-2 loss to Ola at 9 a.m. The Devils then beat Central (Macon) 11-0, but the fatigue was evident in the finale as the Lady Jackets pulled away in the second inning on five hits, four wild pitches and one error.
    Catcher Sammy Hagan delivered the crushing blow, a two-run homer to right center to make the score 7-0 WCHS.
    “We got two wins,” said Parker. “And I think we learned a lot. There’s situations that we’re still working through and trying to improve on. But two wins is two wins and we’re happy about that.”
    The Devils rallied in the top of the third with the bases loaded and one out. Kristen Deal drove in a run with a tapper back to the mound, but SHS could manage nothing more.
    It was the second time the two teams met in less than two weeks and they’ll meet again on Tuesday when SHS travels to Jesup for a 6 p.m. first pitch.
    “I think we’re making (Wayne County) look a little bit better than they really are,” Raines said. “Hopefully, Tuesday we’ll come out and give them a run for their money.”
    
Statesboro 11, Central (Macon) 0
    The Lady Blue Devils scored early and often as they routed Central High 11-0 to advance to the championship game of the White Bracket on Saturday.
    Meghan Cassedy jumped on the second pitch of the game for a solo homer to center and SHS never looked back.
    The Lady Devils added three in the third on three straight singles by Whitney Lucas, Raines and Erin Hice. Erin Denmark added an RBI single in the inning.
    The game got out of hand in the bottom of the fourth as SHS plated six runs on three hits, three errors and one wild pitch.
    Lucas went 2-for-3 with three runs and a stolen base while Raines got the win on the mound, striking out seven. Raines struck out the side in the third and the fifth stranding five runners in the process.

    Chad Bishop can be reached at (912) 489-9408.