Lady Blues battle adversity to clam bi-district championship

Sweetwater had all of the momentum after a dominating win in game two of its best-of-three series against the Lady Blues, but Graham showed why they are one of the best teams in Class 4A. With their backs against the wall, the team rallied together in Game 3 to defeat the Lady Mustangs and advance to the area round of the playoffs with a 6-3 win. After struggling against the Sweetwater lineup on Friday, pitcher Emma Southerland was dominant in the circle to earn the win. The sophomore allowed just seven hits, three runs, with just one earned run and 11 strikeouts to help lead the Lady Blues into the second round. When she was not fanning batters at the plate, Southerland also came through at the plate by going 5-for-10 during the series. All three games were played in Hawley. It marked the third time already this season that a Graham varsity athletic team had ended Sweetwater's season in the playoffs. "Friday night just wasn't a good night for us," said Lady Blues head coach Adam Arrington. "That's just how this sport goes sometimes. You play so many games and on some nights, you just don't have your stuff. Our backs were against the wall and every time this year when out backs were against the wall, we seem to come out the following game and be ready to play," Arrington said. "Our attitudes were high, the energy level was up and I thought it was just a solid team win in a do-or-die situation tonight." Graham 6, Sweetwater 3 The Lady Blues took a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Morgan Patterson scored the first run on the night in part to an error on the Sweetwater first baseman. Elizabeth Routon gave Graham another run on infield single that Callie Dobbs was able to score when she beat the throw home. However, the Lady Mustangs answered in the bottom of the third with two runs of their own on two errors. For the rest of this story, subscribe to our print or online edition.