Bulloch Academy had just three hits but took advantage of six Pinewood errors to take a 5-0 victory in a key GISA Region 4-AAA softball game Thursday.
    “It’s probably the worst we’ve hit the ball in the last two weeks,” said BA head coach Chandler Dennard. “We were not aggressive at the plate. We watched too many pitches go by. We put ourselves behind in the count and wound up swinging at bad pitches. But we still put the ball in play enough for good things to happen for us.”
    With the win, the Lady Gators (16-8 overall and 9-2 in region play) clinched second place in the region as the regular season nears its end.
    “We’ve had a good solid week,” said Dennard. “We beat Brentwood, who was ranked number one in the state, and then Westfield, who was ranked number three. Then we beat our arch rivals.”
    BA pushed runs across in the second, fifth and sixth innings for the victory.
    In the second, the Lady Gators loaded the bases on two walks, a fielder’s choice and a hit batsman. The situation chased PCA starter Brittany Tatum from the mound. After Etta Duncan came on to pitch, BA senior Mary Margaret Reeves laid down a slap hit that was misplayed, allowing pinch runner Danielle Atkinson to score.
    Bulloch added two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings for the 5-0 score.
    In the fifth, sophomore Ashley Burke had an infield hit to go with three PCA errors that allowed the runs to cross the plate. In the sixth, senior Lauren Dennard blasted an RBI triple to the gap in right center. She later scored on a Burke single to left.
    While the Lady Gator offense was less than stellar, the BA defense was solid and even impenetrable at times.
    Pinewood (13-6 overall and 6-5 in the region) threatened in the first, third, fifth, sixth and seventh but the Lady Gator defense was able to keep the Lady Patriots from crossing the plate.
    “It may have been one of our better games defensively,” said Dennard. “Lauren probably pitched one of her best games of the year. She did a good job keeping them off balance and had a great defense behind her.”
    The senior hurler scattered four hits through seven innings, struck out four and had no walks. When she wasn’t working her magic, the Lady Gator defenders were.
    In the opening inning, PCA slugger Kaylyn Hagan smashed a two-out triple into right field. But Dennard struck out Duncan to end the threat.
    In the third, Jessie Knauss singled to center but was caught trying to steal by BA catcher Kaleigh Sisolak and second baseman Ashlee Lanier.
    In the fifth, with one out and a runner on second, Dennard napped a ball up the middle and got the baserunner tagged out going back into second. Scoring threats were also squashed in the sixth when first baseman Ally Cheshire dug a ball out of the dirt and in the seventh when left fielder Page Spence made a great catch on a deep fly ball with a runner in scoring position.
    Bulloch travels to Macon Monday to battle Mount de Sales.