LOS ANGELES — Maya Brady homered twice and scored three runs to lead the UCLA softball team to an 8-0 victory over Georgia in six innings on Thursday night in the Los Angeles Super Regional at Easton Stadium.

The sixth-seeded Bruins will continue the best-of-three series with Game 2 against the 11th-seeded Bulldogs on Friday at 7 p.m. Game 3, if necessary, would be Saturday.

“I’ll just say this: Game 1 is always the biggest one,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez told reporters after the game. “We’ve got to be able to appreciate tonight, get some rest and come back because I guarantee it’ll be a dogfight tomorrow.”

UCLA freshman lefty Kaitlyn Terry pitched a complete six innings and gave up four hits, with three walks and five strikeouts.

Terry said that taking “debbies,” or deep, exaggerated breaths, before each pitch has helped her stay focused through the pressure of postseason.

“It makes me reset everything,” Terry said, “and just makes me like pitch loose because when I pitch tight, it’s just not good. So honestly, I think taking ‘debbies’ is my biggest thing.”

Brady cracked a solo home run over the right field wall in the bottom of the first inning to get UCLA’s offense started early after the defense held the Bulldogs hitless in the top of the frame.

She went deep a second time when she attacked the second pitch she saw in the bottom of the fifth inning for another leadoff solo home run and her 17th overall this season.

“It’s just literally trying to put my team in the best position to get us a dub at the end of the day or at least a little room against a swinging team like (Georgia),” Brady said. “Everything I do is for my teammates.”

Brady came up with big defensive plays at shortstop throughout the game as well. She made a catch along the third base line to force Georgia’s Jaydyn Goodwin to foul out to end the top of the second inning and turned a quick double play at second base in the fourth.

Inouye-Perez compared Brady’s ability to make plays in the infield to Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson.

“She’s smooth like that,” Inouye-Perez said. “I wanted her at shortstop this year – I wanted her with the young pitching staff to be on the field so that she could communicate and keep the team together. And she has done a phenomenal job.”

Jadelyn Allchin stretched out for a diving catch in left field at the top of the second inning to prevent Sara Mosley from getting on base. UCLA’s outfield played deep all evening against a Georgia offense that features two players who each have 20 home runs this season – No. 4 hitter Mosley and No. 3 hitter Jayda Kearny.

Kearny recorded one hit and Mosley had none on Friday night.

“Momentum is a big deal. We had it at a point in the season and we’ve been battling to get it back for a long time,” Georgia coach Tony Baldwin told reporters. “I like our team, I like our people, I love going to work with them, I love competing with them. We just haven’t been consistent enough to get the ball rolling with momentum on our side.”

Thessa Malau’ulu and Janelle Meoño both grounded out in the bottom of the third inning to bring the top of the batting order back out and also give Brady a chance to get her second big hit of the game.

Brady doubled, then Allchin laced a single down the first base line to score the Pac-12 Player of the Year. The Bruins were able to load the bases when Sharlize Palacios and Megan Grant were both walked, but Jordan Woolery struck out swinging to leave all three runners stranded.

UCLA’s third home run of the evening came in the bottom of the evening and gave the Bruins a 6-0 advantage. Allchin singled and Palacios reached first on an HBP. Gabriela Jaquez, who also plays on UCLA’s women’s basketball team, came in to pinch run for Palacios.

Megan Grant grounded out to move the runners over and Woolery homered to bring them both in.

Savannah Pola ended the game when she singled to right field to push pinch runner Taylor Stephens and Allchin across home plate in the sixth inning.

“We know what Maya Brady can do and she continues to do it and it’s so impressive to watch,” Inouye-Perez said, “but we’re at our best when the bottom half is taking care of it.”

Two homers and a web gem 😮‍💨

All in a day’s work for @UCLASoftball’s Maya Brady.#RoadToWCWS pic.twitter.com/JSEr9Sl6vC

— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) May 24, 2024

A @jordanwooleryy 3 from way downtown!

𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐆.

📺: ESPN2
📲: https://t.co/T5Ovxk6xCw#GoBruins | #LevelUp pic.twitter.com/jqKGAScoY3

— UCLA Softball (@UCLASoftball) May 24, 2024

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WALK IT OFF AGAIN, SAVI!!!

ONE WIN AWAY!!!#GoBruins | @savannahpola pic.twitter.com/cc2uWn7bg7

— UCLA Softball (@UCLASoftball) May 24, 2024

ATLANTA — A Georgia prosecutor on Thursday appealed a ruling dismissing some of the criminal charges against former President Donald Trump and other defendants in an election interference case.

The notice of appeal filed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis does not say why an appeals court should reverse the March dismissal. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee quashed six counts in the indictment, including three against Trump, saying the counts did not allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of the violations.

The ruling was a setback Willis, though it left much of the sweeping indictment intact.

Willis’ notice of cross appeal said state law allows prosecutors to file their own appeals ahead of trial when defendants have previously appealed a pre-trial ruling.

Trump and the other defendants have asked an appeals court to reverse McAfee’s ruling not to disqualify Willis from the case over a romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. A Georgia appeals court earlier this month agreed to take up the issue.

Trump and 18 others were indicted in August, accused of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally try to overturn his narrow 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia.

All of the defendants were charged with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, law, an expansive anti-racketeering statute. Four people charged in the case have pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors. Trump and the others have pleaded not guilty.

The six dismissed counts charge the defendants with soliciting public officers to violate their oaths. One count stems from a phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, on Jan. 2, 2021, in which Trump urged Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes.”

Another of the dismissed counts accuses Trump of soliciting then-Georgia House Speaker David Ralston to violate his oath of office by calling a special session of the legislature to unlawfully appoint presidential electors.

But the judge left in place other counts — including 10 facing Trump — and also said prosecutors could seek a new indictment to try to reinstate the ones he dismissed.

China’s strategic influence in Georgia slips under the radar as the country is caught in a tug-of-war between Russia and the West over the “transparency of foreign influence” bill. But the looming civil society crisis has made the Georgian government’s approach to sideline the West and favor China more evident than ever.

Mass protests in the former Soviet republic’s capital, Tbilisi, have been under the international spotlight for over a month. Georgian citizens, who just celebrated the country’s EU candidacy and seek full membership, are deeply concerned about the government’s repeated attempts to adopt an alleged Russian-style “foreign agents” bill. While the government claims that the legislation promotes transparency of foreign influences in civil society, protesters view it as an act to suppress and control Georgia’s non-governmental sector.

Many, including members of the U.S. Congress and European Parliament, have criticized Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party for pro-Russian leanings and neglecting the people’s will. However, the Georgian Dream staunchly rebuffs Western accusations, further rejecting invitations from European and U.S. officials while actively pursuing partnerships with China and its allies.

The signs of Georgia’s pivot to China are undeniable. To name a few, shortly after the mass protests erupted in April, Georgian government officials proudly celebrated the opening of the construction of the Kvesheti-Kobi tunnel, the country’s largest. The China Railway 23rd Bureau Group Co. is building this massive infrastructure project as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Thanks to the BRI, the Georgian Dream successfully positions itself as a champion of critical infrastructure reform, gaining greater support from the population and fostering a sense of development amid the massive protests.

In early May, the heads of the national banks of Cambodia and Georgia signed a memorandum of understanding to de-dollarize their economies. Georgia, which has been a U.S. ally since the collapse of the Soviet Union and has contributed troops to NATO’s mission in Afghanistan and the U.S. operations in Iraq, has sided with China’s friend to achieve President Xi Jinping’s long-term vision to end the monopoly of the U.S. dollar. While the potential impact of Georgia-Cambodia cooperation to curtail U.S. dollar dominance might be limited, their alliance sends a potent message to the West regarding Georgia’s strategic (re)orientation, especially alongside the adoption of the foreign agent bill, which is widely viewed as anti-Western.

Georgian officials have also shifted their diplomatic priorities. During the ongoing protests, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze hosted an annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank in Tbilisi, one of the main sponsors of BRI projects in Georgia. Meanwhile, Speaker of Parliament Shalva Papuashvili refused to meet with the chairpersons of the Foreign Relations Committees of the German, Lithuanian, Polish, Czech, and Finnish Parliaments. “It was not a good time for a visit,” Papuahsvili said, citing the scheduled third hearing of the bill.

If the signs are so apparent, why has China been absent from geopolitical scrutiny amid this internal crisis and mass demonstrations in Georgia?

Georgians perceive China differently from the EU, U.S., and Russia. China is geographically distant from Georgia and has had little to no influence on its internal politics. Historically China has mostly brought economic well-being to Georgia through the Silk Road. In contrast, the EU and the U.S. have tantalized the country with the prospect of EU and NATO membership, creating the perception that the West has significant political interests in the Caucasus to counter Russia, which controls 20 percent of Georgia. With deep-seated anti-Russian sentiments stemming from Soviet history and ongoing Russian occupation, Georgians tend to view their political landscape in binary terms – pro-Western or pro-Russia – often overlooking China’s role in the region.

China’s soft power remains largely unnoticed in Georgia, unlike the West, which has been actively promoting democratic ideals for over three decades. Western influence is evident through substantial grants and prestigious student exchange and training programs in the EU and U.S. that promise career growth. Russian impact remains prominent due to the country’s Soviet history, ongoing occupation, and hybrid warfare, which includes extensive disinformation campaigns in Georgia.

In contrast, China’s soft power efforts emerged late and remain limited. For example, while English has become the post-Soviet Georgians’ second language, Mandarin Chinese was introduced to fifth-graders as a foreign language only in 2019. The country also has several Chinese-funded educational centers like the Confucius Institute at the Free University of Tbilisi and the Chinese Language and Cultural Center at the Tbilisi State University, but there is limited evidence that Chinese ideology plays a notable role in their work. China’s cultural influence remains too insignificant to overshadow the conversations about Russian and Western propaganda.

China receives far less media and public attention than Russia and the West, failing to capture large-scale interest, especially amid the polarization surrounding the foreign agent bill. The Georgian Dream party takes full credit for the country’s economic progress, with minimal mention of China and the BRI.

As Russia’s geopolitical isolation made overland trade routes through Russia less viable, China extended its BRI to Georgia, redirecting cargo via the so-called Middle Corridor that connects China to Europe through Central Asia and the Caucasus. Georgia actively embraced its new transit role, investing in infrastructure projects and engaging in diplomatic efforts with relevant countries (e.g. Georgia’s then-Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili visited Kazakhstan after meeting Xi Jinping in 2023 to discuss the region’s growing transit importance). However, the Georgian Dream party’s lack of emphasis on Chinese cooperation keeps China less discussed than Russia and the West.

Meanwhile, the BRI criticism has not yet permeated Georgian society. While Western powers actively highlight China’s debt traps and alleged malicious intent to expand influence through infrastructure projects, this narrative has not spread in Georgia. “Many countries are turning away from the Belt and Road Initiative after a few years seeing that it actually isn’t very beneficial to other countries,” said then-U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan after Garibashvili visited China. However, the ambassador’s words received limited attention compared to the economic opportunities touted following Georgia’s enhanced cooperation with China.

This is largely because the countries most indebted to China are primarily located in Africa, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia – regions that are distant from Georgia both geographically and politically. Consequently, Georgians have limited knowledge of China’s involvement in those areas, making it difficult to juxtapose BRI’s impact abroad with their domestic economy.

Despites its relatively low profile in Georgia, China has presented unparalleled opportunities for the Georgian Dream to maintain its anti-Western rhetoric and defy Western recommendations during this crisis. As the Georgian Dream is on a collision course with the West, it is in its interest to avoid contentious discussions involving China. When pushing for the foreign agent bill, which faced fierce Western criticism, the Georgian Dream positioned it as a measure to strengthen sovereignty and resist Western pressure. After this bold move to cater to an electorate skeptical of Western influence in the election run-up, the government understands the need for alternative support. China emerges as a solution. If the U.S. and EU translate their sanction warnings into action, the Georgian Dream could turn to China to offset potential losses and restore its reputation.

Despite visible indications of Georgia’s shift toward China, the Georgian population remains fixated on the West-Russia divide, leaving little mental space for China. Historical perceptions, limited exposure to Chinese soft power and BRI’s impact, media coverage, and strategic maneuvers by the Georgian Dream all contribute to the nation’s apparent oversight of China’s growing influence.

As Georgia grapples with the domestic crisis over the foreign agents bill, it is crucial to recognize that the Georgian Dream has its eyes on China, as opposed to Russia or the West.