Evans celebrated on Greenbrier's field Tuesday night like no Columbia County team has in nearly a decade.
For the first time since 1999, Evans beat Greenbrier in softball.
"It's always a good game, and sometimes it just seems like the ball never bounces our way (against Greenbrier)," Evans softball coach Colette Cassedy said. "It just never went our way, but we came through tonight."
The Lady Knights picked up the big region victory, winning 1-0 in eight innings. Evans starting pitcher Jenny Shepherd threw a complete-game shutout while teammate Laura Brown drove in the game-winning run in the top of the eighth.
The win snapped Evans' 13-game losing streak to Greenbrier that dated back to the last millennium.
"It's pretty big. I mean, it's been years," Shepherd said. "Greenbrier's a great team, and we've always wanted to beat them."
Evans (18-9) is now 4-2 in Region 3B-AAAA with losses to Greenbrier and Lakeside. Tuesday night's win kept Evans in contention to possibly finish first-place in the region.
"Evans is the best team in the region. They're better than us," Greenbrier coach Garrett Black said. "They've got better coaches and better players. They're the team to beat in the region. That's the way we look at it."
Greenbrier, ranked No. 2 in Class AAAA with a 21-5 record, still sits in first place in the subregion but has one region loss with three region games remaining.
Reach Billy Byler at (706) 863-6165 or billy.byler@augustachronicle.com.
Evans 000 000 01 - 1 6 0
Greenbrier 000 000 00 - 0 3 3
Jenny Shepherd and Nikki Kinner. Katie Tracy and Stephanie Rhoden. WP-Shepherd. LP-Tracy.
Records: Evans 19-9 (4-2 Region 3B-AAAA); Greenbrier 21-5 (4-1 Region 3B-AAAA). Next: Evans vs. Statesboro, Monday, Oct. 1, 5:30 p.m. Greenbrier vs. South Effingham at Georgia Tech, Friday, Sept. 28.
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