MARIETTA — South Forsyth began the Class AAAAA state tournament with a classic Jekyll and Hyde performance Tuesday at Kell.

The Jekyll was a well-pitched 2-1 victory in Game 1, while the Hyde came in the form of a 9-0 loss to the Lady Longhorns in Game 2.

“[In] Game 1, I thought we came out with a lot of fire,” said South coach Ronnie Davis. “We got a great pitching performance from [Alexa] Ditmar.”

Ditmar delivered 14 strikeouts and only two walks in the opening game.

The Lady Longhorns made an early statement with a home run by Kelsey Mericka in the bottom of the first inning.

South bounced back right away, though, giving Ditmar just enough run support with a Shea Smith two-run single in the top of the second.

Game 2, however, was an entirely different animal.

“We had the opportunity to push some more [runs] across [in game two], and [Kell] came up with plays when they had to” said Davis. “I think that was the difference in game one and game two.”

The turning point came in the top of the fourth when Christie Harrison drove in Ansley Gasaway and Kristy Pearson for the Lady Longhorns’ third and fourth runs of the game.

The two-RBI’s forced Davis to send Kaylyn Young to the mound as relief for Ditmar.

Unfortunately, the pitching change wasn’t enough to salvage the game for the Lady War Eagles’ defense, as they continued to give up five additional runs.

Katie Blair proved to be a big time hitter for Kell in game two, driving in three of the of the Lady Longhorns’ nine runs.

Blair helped drive in the first run of game two off of her bunt and an error by South. A sacrifice fly RBI, and an RBI single in the third and seventh frames, respectively, gave Blair her RBI hat trick.

“You’ve got to tip your hat to [Kell],” said Davis. “They were patient at the plate [and] made some adjustments after game one.”

Davis and the Lady War Eagles anticipate their opportunity to take game three of their tournament series against Kell.

“Hopefully we’ll get it done [Wednesday],” said Davis.

“Our players will be prepared to play [Wednesday] whether we get to or not.”