Atlanta bows out of playoffs after tight series with North Lamar

By Tim Emmons
temmons@casscountynow.com

Gone are the days of a good Cass County rivalry for the Lady Rabbs’ softball team, but where that changed due to number cuts by the UIL, a leader has emerged.
Atlanta and North Lamar have been district foes for some time now, and since 2013 the rivalry continues to get hotter.
After having stopped North Lamar’s 54-game district winning streak in 2013 which spanned six years on the heels of a 3-0 win, the Lady Rabbs found themselves tied for the district lead; with a chance to unseat the six-year district champs.
The setting was perfect.Two outs, bottom of the seventh, tying run at third base, go ahead run at the plate.
The batter walks putting runners at the corners for Morgan Maxwell. Maxwell slaps a ball into the gap scoring the tying run but Atlanta’s coach waved Jaci Cullins around for the win.
Cullins slips, regains footing and scores giving Atlanta the win and a district title.
Why is this awesome flashback necessary for this article? It’s necessary because for the next three years the two warrior teams played each other with no team winning by more than a few runs.
In 2014 Atlanta and North Lamar split a district championship and in 2015 the teams split wins/losses again, but this year the Lady Rabbs owned 3-1, 5-4 victories over NL.
After claiming bi-district and area championships Atlanta was pitted against their division foe in a Region II-4A quarterfinal, best-of-three series, and what a battle it was.
The first game alone was one for the ages; a game which played out 12 innings and three-and-a-half hours at Northeast Texas Community College in Mt. Pleasant.

Game One
North Lamar struck first in the bottom of the first frame and went up 3-0.
In the top of the second Atlanta’s Kaydee Kelly was hit by a pitch, Rebecca Thomas hit a single and Lanee Oliver walked to load the bases.
With two outs Cydnee Wood laced a 3-run double to the fence and the score was tied at 3.
In the bottom of the inning North Lamar hit a solo homerun which gave the Pantherettes a 4-3 lead.
The score stayed the same until the bottom of the fifth when North Lamar added another run to go up 5-3. Two hit batters in the top of inning six was enough for Lexi Oliver, as she roped an RBI single and cut the lead to 5-4.
With just three outs to claim, North Lamar and their talkative fan base were very confident of a game-one win.
Fortunately Atlanta had other plans.
With the bases loaded and two outs Lanee Oliver hits an infield shot on a 3-2 count and a runner scores to tie the game at 5.
Both teams had opportunities to score but Atlanta went up 6-5 after Lexi Oliver hit a double in the tenth and came home after Alyssa Simmons hit a single. North Lamar smashed a single and a double with one out and after an intentional walk the next Pantherette batter hit a sac fly which brought in the tying run.
In the 11th inning Head Coach Tobie Dunlap made a pitching change and Kaydee Kelly was very effective in relief.
Lanee walked with one out in the top of the 12th inning and made it to third after her sister Lexi smoked the ball to the fence for another double.
Wood walked to load the bags but Lanee scored on a passed ball to put Atlanta up 7-6.
North Lamar had a player reach second with two outs, but the game ended with a pop out which stopped the exhausting game one with game two following.

Game Two
NL struck first in the contest with a 1-0 lead in the first, but in the bottom of the second inning Atlanta made its move.
Lanee Oliver and Wood hit singles and Simmons brought in one run with an infield hit followed by a 2-RBI single off the bat of Victoria Bergt; putting Atlanta up 3-1.
The Lady Rabbits took a 5-4 lead into the final inning but the Pantherettes scored two runs and took a 6-5 decision.

Game Three 
The third and decisive game was another battle for the ages.
The Lady Rabbs fell behind 2-0 going into the sixth frame but both Kinsey Kelly and Lexi Oliver hit doubles on the heels of three walks which led to a 4-run outburst and a 4-2 lead.
NL once again caught fire from the dish and loaded the bases. Rare errors by Atlanta led to three runs for North Lamar and a 5-4 lead.
The Lady Rabbits loaded the bases in the seventh inning, but their season ended on a grounder to second.
The season ended earlier than expected which is always the case when you’re Atlanta and the senior players will be missed, but the returning group is sure to have the Lady Rabbs back in the playoff hunt again next year.