Not much attention was given to Lithonia High School‘s softball diamond on Aug. 21 as the Grady girls softball team battled hard to try to achieve its first win of the season against the Lithonia Bulldogs. Despite the team’s efforts at reducing the early lead by Lithonia, the Knights fell short at the end of the game and lost 20-14.

At a game where the number of spectators in the stands just barely exceeded the number of players on the field, it proved difficult for the Grady team to become enthused to perform. At the end of the first inning, the score was 10-0 in favor of Lithonia.

Lithonia maintained this lead up until the fourth inning when Grady scored three runs and allowed none for Lithonia. Although Grady was still down 15-6 at the end of the inning, the momentum was beginning to shift teams.

A Lithonia Coach noticed this unexpected change in pace of the game, and turning to one of his players, he said, “Why are you making this game longer?”

Grady entered the top of the fifth with a new sense of motivation. The first run was scored by left fielder Taylor Baker, who stole home after a pitch flew way above the catcher’s mitt. Shortstop Abrahanna James then came to the plate with bases loaded and sailed a line drive hard through the middle, allowing three of her teammates to safely reach home base. After a walk put another player on base, Catcher Jasmine Rich hit an inside-the-park three-run homerun. By the end of the inning, Grady was only down by three runs.

Since the game only lasted seven innings, Grady knew they had few opportunities left to surpass Lithonia’s lead. Before beginning the sixth inning, the team huddled for a pep talk.

“This is our time, crunch time,” senior Abrahanna James said. “Let’s see who got heart. We got heart.”

Unfortunately, Grady’s hopes for the inning were unfulfilled when Lithonia outscored them four runs to none. Now, Grady had only a single opportunity remaining to win the game.

James, who was leading Grady with RBIs for the game, came to the plate first and struck out, crushing the last bit of momentum remaining from the fifth inning. Although one player managed to steal home after a bad pitch, Grady’s good fortune was gone, and two more strikeouts ended the game.

Grady, with a record of 0-3, now looks forward to their next game at Carver High School on Aug. 23, starting at 5:30 p.m.