Update: Lady Patriots Eliminated

Updated 2:30 p.m.

The softball season is over for Paulding County High.

The Lady Patriots lost their 11 a.m. game in Columbus to Madison County, 4-1, the GHSA tweeted.

Paulding County ends the season with a 24-10 record and the Region 5-AAAA championship, as well as earning a place as one of the Elite Eight AAAA softball teams in Georgia.

Original Report

The Lady Patriots have no room for error if the team hopes to return from Columbus with the Georgia High School Association’s Class AAAA state softball title.

Paulding County fell in its tournament-opening game Thursday against Northgate, 14-6. Despite the 8-run difference, the Lady Patriots in the loss notched 5 more runs than Northgate had given up in the first two rounds of the playoffs—it had only allowed 1 run in four games. (See how the Lady Patriots and other teams got to Elite Eight by checking out the GHSA’s bracket.)

The Lady Patriots now await an 11 a.m. first pitch against Madison County, which lost its tournament opener to Union Grove. The winner of the morning game will remain in the double-elimination tournament to play Whitewater. (See the entire Elite Eight bracket here.)

Admission to tournament games is $7 for a doubleheader and $5 for a single game in the first and second rounds, while spectators can pay $10 to see the tournament’s final games on Saturday.

Check back with Dallas-Hiram Patch for further coverage as it develops.