Wesleyan (Georgia) softball cruises to Region 7-AAA championship

Pitcher Macey Cintron dominates while the bottom of the batting order delivers in a six-inning rout of Pickens County

CUMMING, GEORGIA – New classification, no problem.

Behind a dominant start from Macey Cintron and timely hitting from the bottom half of the order, the Wesleyan softball team defeated Pickens County, 9-1, in six innings to claim the Region 7-AAA Championship in their first year in the classification.

After winning the state championship in Class A-Private each of the past two seasons, Wesleyan (25-2) will enter the Class AAA state tournament looking to continue its dominance. The Wolves will host the Super Regional starting next Thursday.

“It feels great,” Wesleyan head coach Mary Blalock said. “We set it as a goal to win our region, but honestly, we came in and didn’t know what to expect. I’m just super proud of a great performance all the way around.”

The Wolves also defeated Pickens County, Wednesday afternoon, 8-0 to have an opportunity to clinch the region championship on Thursday.

After failing to push a run across in the second inning despite having runners on the corners with one out, it was Pickens who scored the game’s first run in the third inning.

A single to left, followed by a bunt single and a sacrifice bunt put runners at second and third with one out for Pickens. A ground ball to first off the bat of AJ long gave the Dragons a 1-0 lead after the runner slid under the tag on a bang-bang play at the plate.

In prime position to score again, Wolves catcher Marjee Williams turned in the play of the game on defense when she snapped a throw down to third to gun the lead runner out for the crucial second out of the inning.

Cintron then got an easy groundout to end the inning and from there, it was all Wolves.

Wesleyan's Macey Cintron allowed an early run before turning dominant in pitching the Wolves to a 9-1 win over Pickens County to clinch the Region 7-AAA championship on Wednesday / Photo by Colin Hubbard

With runners on second and third and one out, an infield single off the bat of Ryley Kutter knotted the game at 1-1. Christina McCoy followed that up with an RBI double to center to give the Wolves a 2-1 lead and that ended the day for Pickens starter Cheyenne Coleman.

Mary Scott Hulsey came on to pitch for the Dragons and allowed two more runs to score for the Wolves. A bases-loaded groundout scored Kutter to make it 3-1 in favor of the Wolves and eight-hole hitter Anna Kennedy followed that up with a liner into right field to score Taylor Webb.

After a quick 1-2-3 inning in the top of the fourth from Cintron, the Wolves tacked on four more runs in the bottom half.

An RBI triple off the bat of freshman Avery Tucker (2-for-4) scored fellow freshman Shayla Bahr (2-for-4) to make it 5-1 Wolves. With two outs, Sarah Wren lined a ball off of the pitcher that scored a run and Kennedy broke the game wide open with a single to center that scored two more.

Cintron worked around a 2-out single from the Dragons in the fifth and then struck out the side on just 12 pitches in the sixth.

Needing just one run to end the game in six innings, Kennedy stepped up to the plate with two outs and launched a solo homer to center to end the game in style.

Anna Kennedy stroked a pair of two-run base hits and then ended the game with a solo home run to center in the sixth inning, finishing off Wesleyan's 9-1 win over Pickens County / Photo by Colin Hubbard

That capped off an impressive game for Kennedy, who finished her day 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs to lead the Wolves.

“Anna had an amazing game today,” Blalock said. “She’s just such a great kid and for her to have a performance like that in a region championship is so special. That fence is 225 feet. Most fences are about 200. She probably hit that ball 240 feet. She crushed it and was ready for the moment.”

The bottom of the Wolves lineup came up big Thursday afternoon. Wren, who batted seventh and Kennedy, who batted eighth, combined to drive in six of their nine runs. Six-hole hitter Williams was 1-for-1 with three walks.

“We really feel like we’re strong 1-9,” Blalock said. “One of the things that we talk about is we’re not just reliant on one person. We’re a complete team and I think you saw that today. We feel like we have a lot of kids that can all contribute and that’s a strength to have the diversity of talent that we do.”

Cintron finished her day in the circle tossing six innings of three-hit, 1-run ball while striking out 10. She was also 2-for-2 at the plate with a triple.

“Macey was lights out again,” Blalock said. “I think that’s one thing that can be overlooked in these region matchups is that both Macey and Riley ( have seen them multiple times. Macey just got stronger throughout the game, in particular that sixth inning where she just mowed them down. To be that sharp late in the game after they’ve seen you a bunch of times, that just tells you that she’s really locked in.”

Entering uncharted waters in the upcoming Class 3A state tournament, Blaylock said she and her team are looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.

“I think the Super Regionals are going to be fun,” Blalock said. “We’re certainly excited to host that. We’re going to have some other really high-quality teams, but I think that’s honestly to our advantage. We’re ready to play anybody who is in the other dugout and we feel confident.”