Statesboro continued its struggles on Saturday as the Lady Blue Devils dropped all three games at the Battle in the Boro.
    They may not have put up the wins, but they did take place in one of the wildest games of the weekend.
    In their game against Swainsboro, the Devils offense finally broke through. An inability to hit with runners in scoring position had hurt Statesboro twice on Friday, but the Devils loaded the bases in the first inning and pounded out six runs on as many hits.
    Taylor Pittman delivered a two-run single off Lady Falcons starter Logan Coleman, and Kristen Kingery, Keiyonna Gusby and Alexis Costlow all delivered RBI hits to spot SHS an early 6-0 lead.
    “We came out and did exactly what we wanted to do,” said SHS coach Jim Simmons. “We swung the bats well and took advantage of everything we could. We need to see more of that.”
    But East Laurens came roaring back in the top of the second.
    SHS starter Kingery battled her control throughout the day and walked Evan Morris and Iesha Baldwin to begin the inning. A single loaded the bases before a wild pitch and an error allowed two Falcons to score. Callie King recorded an RBI groundout and Lauren Broderick scored on another wild pitch. With two on and two out, Briana Williams delivered the big blow with a three-run home run to center field to give East Laurens a 7-6 lead.
    The Devils escaped the inning, but couldn’t find any more offense in the game.
    In the third inning, the wheels came flying off for the Devils.
    Mary Hannah Bowen and Broderick led off the inning with consecutive walks and a wild throw on a grounder allowed both to circle the bases.
    Morris added a two-run double to chase Kingery. Lucile Lyons came on in relief, but more walks and wild pitches followed as the Falcons built the lead to ten runs.
    “We just totally let things get away from us after that first inning,” said Simmons. “We stopped throwing strikes and made some costly errors in the field. I don’t know if it was a little fatigue from a late night and an early game this morning, but those are things we need to overcome.”
    The Devils (1-7) dropped a 12-0 decision to Savannah Christian early in the morning in their final pool play game. After being placed in the tournament’s White Bracket for the knockout rounds, Statesboro fell to East Laurens by a count of 16-6 and lost its consolation game, 18-6, against Liberty County.