By Nick Nunn
Staff Writer

The Varsity and Junior Varsity Lady Dogs have been very busy the last two weeks. Not counting tournament games, both teams have played a total of  nine games. The Varsity beat five region opponents in the last two weeks bringing their region record to 5-2 for the year.
Here is a review of the nine games from the last two weeks:
The JV Lady Dogs lost against Alcovy 1-2 on September 10.
Morgan County was ahead by one run until the bottom of the seventh inning, when Alcovy scored two runs, ending the game as a loss for the Lady Dogs.
The Varsity team beat Hart County 5-3 September 11 in Hartwell.
During the first inning, the Lady Dogs scored four runs. Aubree Cox hit a double, which was followed by an RBI single by Laree Van Orden and an RBI double by Dee Pittman. Two further runs came in for the Dogs, but Hart County scored one in the first inning, bringing the score to 4-1.
The Lady Dogs’ defense was able to get a Hart County runner out at the plate by throwing the ball from deep in the outfield for the second out of the third inning.
“I felt like that was a big play in that game,” said Coach Doug Connelly.
Miranda Bullard scored in the fourth inning making the score 5-1.
Hart County was able to score two more runs by the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough to catch up with the Lady Dogs. The game ended 5-3.
Alishia Frierson pitched, earning only two of the runs that scored and getting five strikeouts while only allowing a singe base on balls.
On September 12 the JV Lady Dogs had a double header against Greenbriar and Walnut Grove at home. They lost the game against Greenbriar 9-6, but won the game against Walnut Grove 1-5.
Greenbriar had scored 4 runs by the top of the third, but Morgan County had a strong third inning, scoring 6 runs with singles by Kilee Norman, Hannah Carver, Ashley Backus, and Grace Arienzo, and a double by Miranda Sneed.
Unfortunately, the JV Lady Dogs couldn’t hold on to the two-run lead. Greenbriar scored five more unanswered runs by the end of the seventh, so the final score came to 9-6 in the end.
“Greenbriar was a back and forth game, we had clutch hitting our second time through the batting order, which gave us a lead,” said Coach Brandon Patch. And that “Greenbriar made some nice plays late in the game to win.”
The second game of the double header for the JV Lady Dogs was a 1-5 win against Walnut Grove.
Arienzo scored first in the second inning, and, in the fourth inning, Bailey and Brianna Buttrell both were able to score as well. The score coming into the fifth inning was 0-3.
Walnut Grove scored their only run of the game in the fifth, but Morgan County added another insurance run on the board in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single by Bailey.
The last run of the game came when Backus hit an RBI triple in the bottom of the sixth inning, bringing the final score to 1-5.
“Walnut Grove was a nice victory for us as we lost to them earlier in the year,” said Coach Patch.
“Our kids responded just the way that we would have wanted them to. They came out, competed, and showed no signs of intimidation.”
The Varsity Lady Dogs won their game against East Jackson on September 13, with a final score of 1-4.
Meagan McSherry scored after a ground out by Cox, which made the score 0-1.
Pittman was brought home by an RBI double in the fourth inning by Morgan Hodgson, who also scored that inning, making the score 0-3 going after the fourth.
After East Jackson scored one run in the sixth inning, Pittman scored again in the bottom of the sixth, ending the game 1-4. 
Frierson threw a no-hitter into the sixth inning.
“It was a small-ball game that came through for us,” said Coach Connelly about the way the team was able to manufacture runs against East Jackson.
The third recent region game for the Varsity Dogs was against Elbert County, which they won 11-3 on September 17.
Their first run for Morgan County came in the fourth inning, when Van Orden hit a solo home run.
This charged the Lady Dogs up, and they came out in the fifth inning and scored six more runs, thanks to a single by Frierson, and double by Pittman, and an RBI double by Victoria Thomas. The score at the end of the fifth was 7-3.
They scored another run in the sixth inning, but a five-run lead wasn’t enough for the Lady Dogs. In the seventh inning they scored five more runs after a double by Hodgon, a single by Frierson, and two RBI singles by McSherry and Van Orden.
The score of the game ended 13-3.
On September 20th, the Varsity Lady Dogs faced Franklin County and beat them 11-9 in the eight inning after an international tiebreaker.
The Lady Dogs scored eight runs by the bottom of the fifth, including another home run by Van Orden, but Franklin County was able to tie it up in the top of the seventh by scoring one run.
In the eighth inning, the Varsity team was able to tack on three more runs after a McSherry walked and Cox got a single.
Franklin County tried to match their score but couldn’t, only earning one run in the eighth and bringing the final score to 11-9.
Both the JV and Varsity teams beat region opponent Jackson County last Tuesday at home.
Miranda Sneed pitched an excellent game for the JV Lady Dogs, racking up 10 strikeouts in six innings
Backus scored first for the Dogs in the second inning after an RBI double by Sneed. Backus would score again in the third inning as well, but Jackson County responded in the top of the fourth, scoring three runs and bringing the score to 3-2.
The JV Dogs came out swinging in the bottom of the fourth, and score 4 runs, thanks to singles by Norman, Backus, Arienzo, and Bailey, and a base-clearing inside the park homer by Sneed.
Jackson scored two more in the bottom of the sixth, but it wasn’t enough. The final score was 5-6.
The Varisty Lady Dogs took to the field next.
Cox hit a rocket over the fence in the bottom of the first to score Morgan County’s first run of the game.
They wouldn’t score again until the bottom of the third. Cox hit an RBI single, and then Van Orden brought in two more runs with a big triple into right field, making the score 4-0.
Morgan County scored more run in the sixth with an RBI single by Van Orden.
Up to that point, Jackson County hadn’t scored any runs, but they attempted to make a comeback in the top of the seventh, scoring three runs with no outs.
Thomas came in with a runner on third to relieve Frierson, who had shut out Jackson County up to that point, and sat three batters down in a row to save the game for Morgan County, 3-5.
The Junior Varsity team has played its last games of the season, but the Varsity Lady Dogs still have one more game against Monticello, and then their Region Tournament, which will begin on Oct 1st.

Printed in the September 27, 2012 edition