Cummings' brilliant in 8-inning masterpiece

Georgetown kicked off the 2025 season on Friday in Mississippi against Stillman. Head Coach Thomas Thornton began with his veteran, Emma Cummings, in the circle. Cummings was strong from the start and was needed the whole way as she pitched 8 brilliant innings in a 2-1 Tigers win.

The offense gave Cummings a lead right away. Kinley Lucas led off with a single and moved to 2nd on an Ainsley Herron walk. The pair stole 3rd and 2nd, which led to a run thanks to a Stevie Shepherd sacrifice fly that scored Lucas, to give Georgetown a 1-0 lead. The Stillman offense mustered nothing against Cummings in the bottom of the inning. A tapper to the catcher, followed by grounders to short and 1st quickly ended the inning.

With 1 out in the 2nd, Michalee Clay drew a walk and stole 2nd. She moved to 3rd after a Haylee Stansbury groundout. Clay would stay at 3rd as Lilli Koch grounded out to end the threat. Stillman's offense still had nothing as they went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 2nd. They would get their 1st baserunner in the bottom of the 3rd via an error but nothing came of it as Cummings remained strong.

Stillman would not put another runner on base until the bottom of the 7th inning, trailing 1-0. Stillman led off with a single to center as its first hit of the game. 2 batters later, another single moved runners to 1st and 2nd. A grounder back to Cummings put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 out. A grounder to Alanna Pierce at short followed, but the play could not be made in time as the tying run scored. Cummings kept her composure and recorded the final out to send the game to extras.

Because Alanna Pierce made the final out of the top of the 7th, she was placed on 2nd to begin the 8th. Kinley Lucas drew a walk to leadoff. Pierce was cut down at 3rd after a grounder by Ainsley Herron. An error by the Stillman catcher then followed, allowing Lucas to charge home all the way from 2nd to give Georgetown a 2-1 lead heading to the bottom of the 8th.

Emma Cummings went back to the circle looking to close out the win. A popup to 3rd started the inning for Stillman. After the error that tied the game in the 7th, Alanna Pierce made sure nothing happened in the 8th. She fielded a pop fly with no issue for the 2nd out, and then stabbed a liner out of the air for the 3rd out to preserve the win.

Emma Cummings delivered a virtuoso performance in picking up the deserved win. She went the full 8 innings, allowing just 2 hits and the unearned win with no walks. Cummings also worked with quickness and efficiency, needing just 76 pitches for the complete game win.