The Lady Wildcats won five games Friday and Saturday to advance to the gold-bracket title game with Gordon Lee, a game that has to be rescheduled after being rained out Saturday.
Woodland coach Colman Roberts knew the Cherokee tournament would provide a great barometer for his team.
"We played that tournament because it's always tough competition, and to see where we're at as a team," Roberts said. "I'm very proud of 'em."
The Lady Wildcats opened play Friday against Woodstock, winning 4-3 on Diana Wimpy's sixth-inning, game-winning double to left-center field, which broke a 4-4 tie.
Wimpy led Woodland with three RBIs and two doubles on 3-for-4 hitting, and Ainsley Faulk (2-for-4, one run, one stolen base), Taylor Braselton (3-for-4, two runs, one stolen base) and Emily Clay (2-for-3, RBI) had the Lady Wildcats' other hits.
Casey Bucy gave up two earned runs on 11 hits in six innings. Bucy struck out four.
In its 4-2 win over county rival Cass Friday, Woodland got six innings from Clay, who gave up one earned run, four hits and three walks while recording three strikeouts.
Wimpy went 2-for-3 from the plate with two RBIs, and Jessie Michaels hit 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Saturday's final game of pool play featured a matchup with a former state champion.
"Saturday was pretty rough," said Roberts, whose team faced 2007 state champ Northgate before taking on Region 7-AAAA rivals Sequoyah and Northwest Whitfield. "We played Northgate and they're pretty good. ... They're always contenders."
Clay kept the Lady Vikings' offense down in her team's 3-1 victory. She had a no-hitter through 5 2/3 innings.
The senior Woodland pitcher gave up no earned runs, three hits and one walk in seven innings, and struck out seven.
"[That was] probably Emily's best outing of the year," Roberts said.
Offensively for the Lady Wildcats, Bucy had two RBIs and a double on 1-for-3 hitting, along with a stolen base, and Wimpy, who also went 1-for-3, hit a home run for her RBI and also scored a run.
Woodland's two-run win over Northgate matched them with the Lady Chiefs in the first round of the gold bracket championship. The Lady Wildcats were anxious to redeem a Sept. 2 shutout loss to Sequoyah.
"Playing them after losing 8-0 over there, our kids were ready to play," Roberts admitted. "We played through the rain; actually had to stop it so they could work on the field."
When play resumed, Woodland worked its way to a 7-4 win, with Braselton's 4-for-4, two-RBI game leading the way for the Lady Wildcats. Braselton also stole a base.
Other Woodland hitters included Lacey Fritz, 2-for-3 (RBI); Wimpy, 1-for-4 (RBI, double); and Faulk, 1-for-3 (two runs, stolen base).
Clay won her third game of the tournament with a seven-inning, six-hit performance. She gave up four earned runs with four strikeouts and four walks.
Rain continued to pop up through Woodland's next game with Northwest Whitfield as well -- a precursor of what was to come -- but the Lady Wildcats were able to win, 7-6, in what Roberts called a "very big game."
The game, he said, had lots of intensity and enthusiasm. "(The) crowd was into it."
Faulk (3-for-5, two runs), Wimpy (3-for-5, two RBIs, three runs, home run) and Erin Hitchcock (3-for-4, stolen base, one run) led Woodland in hits with three each, and Olivia Rutledge (2-for-3) had a double, two RBIs and a stolen base.
Bucy went eight innings in the extra-inning win, giving up four earned runs on 10 hits and one walk with one strikeout.
Roberts did not say when his Lady Wildcats -- No. 10 in the Class AAAA PrepCountry.com coaches' poll -- would try to play Gordon Lee -- No. 1 in Class A coaches' poll -- the only other unbeaten team in the tournament.
The Woodland coach is glad his team, which is 15-3 on the season, appears to have gotten over a mid-season hump.
"We had a little spell where we weren't playing too well ... and maybe we thought we were great," Roberts said. "I think the kids just started working harder. ... We had a good week and hopefully that will carry on through the rest of the season."
The Lady Wildcats are scheduled to host Cartersville today at 5 p.m.