PHOTO GALLERY: Latta Softball Team Wins State Title

The Latta Softball team won the state title tonight with a win over Buford, 8-1. Below is a photo gallery by Johnnie Daniels/The Dillon Herald.

PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Johnnie Daniels/The Dillon Herald
Click once on a photo to bring it into a single screen, and then click again to enlarge.

The Latta Vikings State Championship Team

#7 Kristan Wayne sacrifice bunts to first. She is out at first.

#7 Madison Owens dribbles one to pitcher. Safe at first.

#6 Kyra Grant punches one to third. There is an out at second, but she is safe at first.

#4 Kaleigh Caulder hits a grounder to second. Out at first.

#10 for Buford, Lexie Sullivan, flies out to right.

#12 for Buford, Hannah Boone, hits a grounder to second. Error. Safe at first.

#8 for Buford, Emily Taylor, strikes out swinging.

#11 Camryn Sawyer hits one over third for single and tears out for second. Safe.

#15 Genesis Anderson. Ball. Runners on first and second.

#9 for Latta, Riana Green, hits one to pitcher. Everyone safe.

#50 for Latta, Lauren Webster, designated hitter. High one.

#50 for Latta, Lauren Webster, sacrifice flies to center. Pick up rbi. Out.

#18 hits grounder to third. out at first. Runners on second and third. Two outs.

#2 Madison Owens hits grounder to pitcher. Out three. After two innings, Latta-1, Buford-0.

#7 for Buford. Grounder to third. Safe runners on corners.

#00 for Buford hits a sacrifice fly to center to knot game at one. Runner on second. One out.

#14 for Buford hits grounder to pitcher. Runner out at third.

#18 for Buford hits hot one to second. Great catch by Camryn Sawyer. Out at first. After 2 1/2 innings, Latta-1, Buford-1.

#6 for Latta bunts to third. Bad throw to first. Ends up on second.

#4 for Latta, Kaleigh Caulder. High one.

#4 for Latta, Kaleigh Caulder, hits fly behind first. Second baseman dropped ball. Bases loaded.

#15 for Latta, Genesis Anderson. High one.

#15 for Latta, Genesis Anderson, hits grounder to third.

#9 for Latta, Riana Green. Strike called.

#9 for Latta, Riana Green, hits hopper to short stop. Out at first. After three, Latta-1, Buford-1.

#10 for Buford, Lexie Sullivan, hits a high one.

#50 for Latta, Lauren Webster, strikes out swinging.

#50 for Latta, Lauren Webster, fouls down to third.

#50 for Latta, Lauren Webster, dribbles one to pitcher. Out at first.

#18 for Latta, Jayla, hits grounder to first. Out.

#2 for Latta, Madison Owens, hopper to shortstop. Out. After four innings, Latta-1, Buford-1.

#22 for Buford, Kimberly Thomas, drops one in over second for single.

#2 for Buford bunts; out at first. Attempted double play to second. Throw misses. Runner advances to third. One out.

#7 for Buford strikes out swinging. Out at second.

#00 for Buford pops up to second. After 4 1/2 innings, Latta-1, Buford-1.

#6 for Latta, Kyra Grant, pops one up to second.

#12 for Latta, Macy Hyatt, lines one by shortstop for single.

#11 for Latta, Camryn Sawyer, strike called.

#11 Camryn Sawyer, grounder to third, error. Bases loaded, one out.

#15 for Latta, Genesis Anderson, Strike called.

#15 for Latta, Genesis Anderson, low one.

#9 for Latta, Riana Green, sacrifice fly to right. Runner scores. Latta-3, Buford-1.

#50 for Latta, Lauren Webster, lazy low pop to shortstop. Error. Runner scores. Latta-4, Buford-1.

#18 for Latta drops one in over shortstop for single and rbi. Latta-5, Buford-1.

#2 for Latta, Madison Owens, hits grounder to shortstop.

#18 for Buford. Grounder to shortstop. Out two.

#10 for Buford flies out to short right. Caught by Camryn Sawyer. After 5 1/2 innings, Latta-5, Buford-1.

#11 Camryn Sawyer hits one to grounder. Run scores. Latta-6, Buford-1.

#15 Genesis Anderson hits one over right for double and two rbi.

#9 Riana Green strikes out watching. Out two.

#11 for Buford strikes out swinging. Out two.

Principal Leigh Sloan congratulating students.

Dr. John Kirby and Athletic Director Aaron Miles congratulating students.

The Latta Lady Vikings captured the class 2A state championship 8-1 on Wednesday, May 17, in Latta…the winning tradition lives on!
Latta’s Arica Gandy pitched the entire 7-inning game, allowed only 2 hits, 1 earned run, walked 1, and struck out 5.
The Yellow Jackets’ Sydney Sullivan pitched 6 innings, allowed 8 runs of which 4 were earned, walked 4, and struck out 2 in the loss.
Buford suffered with 7 costly errors in the game while Latta committed 3.
The Vikings jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, added 4 runs in the bottom of the fifth, and 3 more runs in the bottom of the sixth.
In the bottom of the second inning Camryn Sawyer hit 1 over third for a single and headed safely to second to get the ball rolling. Senior Genesis Anderson garnered a walk, and runners were on first and second with no outs. Riana Green hit 1 to the pitcher who slowed the ball but was unable to make a play, and all 3 runners were safe to load the bases with no outs. Lauren Webster hit a sac fly to center to score the first run of the game.
Buford’s Kimberly Thomas punched 1 in over third for a lead-off double. H. Allen hit a grounder to third, and both runners were safe on the corners. H. Allen advanced to second on a throw to the catcher. Sydney Sullivan hit a sac fly to center to knot the game at 1.
No one managed to score in the fourth.
Buford came up empty in the top of the fifth.
The Latta Lady Vikings managed to load the bases in the bottom of the fifth and place 4 huge runs on the scoreboard. Senior Macy Hyatt lined 1 by the shortstop for a single. Kaylie Miller was inserted as a courtesy runner for Macy. Miller advanced to second on a passed ball. Kaleigh Caulder garnered a walk. Camryn Sawyer reached base on an error committed on a grounder at third, and, once again, the bases were loaded with 1 out. Senior Genesis Anderson garnered a walk on a 3-2 count to bring home the go-ahead run. Riana Green hit a sac fly to right to score a run, and Latta led 3-1. Lauren Webster hit a lazy pop to the shortstop who committed an error, and a run scored that left runners on the corners. Jayla Jackson dropped 1 in over the shortstop for a single and a rbi, and Latta led 5-1.
The Lady Vikings scored 3 runs in the bottom of the sixth. Kyra Grant bunted safely to lead off the inning. Senior Macy Hyatt hit 1 up the middle and ended up at second. Kaleigh Caulder hit a grounder to the pitcher who threw the runner out at home.
Camryn Sawyer hit a grounder, and a run scored. Genesis Anderson hit 1 over the right fielder for a double and 2 rbi to give Latta an 8-1 lead.
The celebration began for Latta…and memories also began to soar as everyone reflected on Coach Michael Rogers who did so much for the Latta girls softball team throughout so many years.

Latta Lady Vikings
Get Win Over Buford
To Open State
Championship Series

The Latta Lady Vikings traveled to Lancaster on Monday, May 15, and returned home with a 6-5 victory over Buford in game 1 of the Class 2A softball state championship series.
Arica Gandy pitched the entire 7 innings and allowed 7 hits, 5 runs of which only 1 was earned, walked no one, and struck out 2.
Syndney Sullivan was tagged with the loss. She also pitched 7 innings and allowed 9 hits, 6 runs of which 4 were earned, walked 1, and struck out 7.
Latta committed 5 errors in the game while Buford committed 4.
The Vikings jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. However, Buford tied the game in the bottom of the second inning. Each team managed to add a run in the third inning. Buford took a 2-run lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Latta managed to score 3 runs in the top of the seventh inning to take the victory.
Macy Hyatt led the Vikings with a double, 2 singles and a rbi in 4 at-bats while Madison Owens connected for a double, a single, and a rbi in 3 at-bats. Kyra Grant picked up 2 rbi on a double in 3 at-bats. Jayla Jackson also garnered a double and a single in 3 at-bats while Kaleigh Caulder picked up a rib on a single in 4 at-bats.
Buford’s S. Sullivan connected for 2 singles and a rbi in 3 at-bats while L. Sullivan garnered a single and a rbi in 3 at-bats. Y. Dingler singled in 3 at-bats, and T. Patterson singled and picked up a rbi. M. Deese garnered a double in 4 at-bats while K. Wemes singled in 4 at-bats.
Latta will host Buford on Wednesday, May 17, at 6:00 p.m. in the Class 2A state championship series.