Sizzling freshman powers Lady Braves at Rival Rumble

(Bowdon, GA) — A young Lady Brave continued her scorching hot hitting at the Rival Rumble Saturday afternoon as the Lady Braves knocked off the host Red Devilettes 14-4 in five innings.

Freshman Janiyah Strong blasted her fourth and fifth homers of the season in her first two at bats to lead the way.

The Lady Braves wait at the plate for a smiling Janiyah Strong after her fifth homer of the season

Strong’s first inning homer drove home fellow freshman Emma Helton to put the Lady Braves up 2-0 in the top of the first and she mirrored that effort by driving home Helton with a bomb once again in the second inning.

Helton’s bat has been hot as well as she tripled home junior Hannah Holden after Holden’s base hit brought Tori Caldwell home.

Junior left fielder Marissa Garza closed out the five run second with a solo blast, her first of the season. Garza led the team in HR’s in 2017, but has been battling back from an injury this season.

Caldwell made it 8-3 in the third singling home senior Katelyn Baldwin before the squad would erupt for six more runs in the fourth behind base hits from seniors Lora Glover and Kaitlyn Baldwin among others.

The Red Devilettes chose to cool off Strong by intentionally walking her two times in the fourth inning. Abigail Lathrop had a nice double to the gap in the fifth.

On the mound, senior Sydney Gay earned the win following four good innings of work and junior hurler Katelyn Jiles closed it out in the fifth.

A second game with the Devilettes was cancelled due to thundershowers.

The Lady Braves moved to 4-1 on the season and will face a tough schedule next week with a Region 5-AA opener at Bremen on Tuesday (5:30 PM), the home opener versus Class AAAAAA Northgate on Wednesday (5:55 PM), and a tough road trip to Class AAAAAAA powerhouse Newnan on Thursday (5:55 PM).

Bowdon edged Bremen 5-3 in the early game at the Rumble Saturday morning.

The young freshman Strong’s power surge is the most prolific since sophomore Hannah Sanders hit six homers in five games in September of 2014.

Strong tallied her third homer of the season during a 6-5 setback at Central of Carrollton on Wednesday — the Lady Braves lone loss of the season. Her 2-run blast put the Lady Braves up 5-3 after singles from Caldwell and Helton had tied the game before Central came back with the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth.