The tournament title was on the line Thursday night in girls 10-12 softball action at Hoover and Millraney Field. The Southern Girls and Team Evolution met for the second time in the tournament, with the first game going to the Southern Girls on Monday night.
Team Evolution, which went through the regular season without a blemish on its record, battled its way out of the loser’s bracket, after defeating Foust Construction earlier in the night and was looking to avenge its loss to the Southern Girls.
Team Evolution took an early two-run lead but scored only one more run the rest of the game and the Southern Girls used clutch hitting as they saw seven runs come across to score to secure the victory and the championship over the regular-season champions, 7-3.
Keely Sweeton led the charge at the plate for the Southern Girls as she went 1-for-2 with a solo home run, Kora Forbes, Dallis Melton, Zoie Conner and Abby Hodge added a hit apiece.
Forbes was also dominant on the mound as she went six innings, allowing three runs and striking out 10 batters.
Team Evolution mustered two hits from Savanna Duggin and BreAnna Harris. Brooklyn Cope suffered the loss on the mound as she went six innings, while allowing seven runs and striking out 10 batters.
The game started with Southern Girls going down in order in the top of the first inning, leaving the game a scoreless tie heading into the bottom of the inning.
Team Evolution struck first in the bottom of the inning thanks to two walks by the Southern Girls, scoring two runs, 2-0.
An RBI single by Conner cut the deficit to one in the top of the second. Later in the inning the Southern Girls tied the game courtesy of a walk by Team Evolution, scoring a run to make it a tie ball game again, 2-2.
Both teams failed to see any runs cross the plate in the third but that wasn’t the case in the fourth as Southern Girls reclaimed the lead thanks to a two-run error by Team Evolution, 4-2.
Forbes was dealing on the mound as she sat down the Team Evolution side in order for the third consecutive inning, leaving it a two-run game after four.
After Southern Girls extended its lead to four in the top of the fifth, 6-2, Team Evolution didn’t have an answer in the bottom of the inning as it continued to trail heading into the sixth and final inning with a championship at stake.
Jefferson’s inside-the-park home run in the top of the fifth gave Southern Girls even more breathing room, 7-2, and it only needed three outs in the bottom of the inning to bring home the championship.
Team Evolution scored a run in the bottom of the inning thanks to an error by Southern Girls, but it didn’t matter as Forbes settled down and retired the final two batters to secure the game, 7-3, thanks to an overall team effort.