Richmond Hill's girls’ softball team went on the road and took care of business Tuesday as it stunned No. 5 North Gwinnett, 6-2 and 4-3, to advance to the Elite Eight of the Class 6A state tournament.

Bryan County, however, came up on the short end of the stick as it ran up against No. 1 Irwin County in a second-round Class A-DII matchup and the Indians prevailed as they swept the Redskins, 9-0 and 15-1.

The Redskins (17-15) entered state tournament play as a hot team having won five of their last six games and didn’t break stride in sweeping past Johnson County in opening round play.

However, they were no match for the hottest team in the state as No. 1 Irwin County (26-2) ran its winning streak to 24 straight to punch its ticket to Columbus for the double elimination round robin tournament which leads to a state championship.

Sophomore pitcher Brooklyn Gordon ran her record to 17-0 as she proved to be virtually untouchable to Redskins hitters. Bryan County was playing in the state tournament for the first time in three years.

Richmond Hill (19-9) was on a hot streak late in the season when it won nine straight games to clinch second-place in Region 1-6A only to lose three of its last four regular season games heading into state tourney play.

However, Coach Chris Jenkins’ team shook off those doldrums and cruised past Mill Creek in opening round play, 9-8 and 10-2, to earn a trip to North Gwinnett (28-5) to face a Bulldogs team which had won eight straight and 16 of its last 17.

The unranked Wildcats were non-plussed about their underdog role and stunned North Gwinnett in the opener of the double-elimination series when, clinging to a 2-1 lead, they scored four runs in the top of the seventh to lock it up.

Maggie Jenkins was 3-for-4 with a home run and double good for two RBI to lead the win but she got plenty of support at the plate as Richmond Hill pounded out 11 hits. Aubrey Ragins also had three hits while Ainsley Washington and Lily Welch had two each. Washington had two RBI and Welch one.

Adriana Williams, who was the winning pitcher in both games, gave up only two hits and struck out six. Only one of the Bulldogs’ two runs was earned.

In the nightcap North Gwinnett, facing elimination, led 2-0 when Richmond Hill struck for four runs in the fifth and Williams was lights out the rest of the way.

Lennon Monaco was 3-for-3 to pace the Wildcats’ eight-hit attack. Williams allowed six hits and one earned run while striking out two.

Richmond Hill won the slow pitch softball state championship last spring and will be looking to make it a sweep with a fast pitch title when it takes on North Paulding (24-8) at 11 a.m. on Oct. 29 in Columbus. The Wolfpack has won 17 in a row.