Nina Wathen hit a homer to cap off a furious scoring rally in the fifth inning, and the three-run blast earned Trinity their first district title in at least 19 years. The Lady Raiders beat Grayson County 14-2 in five innings on Wednesday night to claim the 12th District softball championship.
Trailing 2-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, Trinity (15-14) got three-run home runs from Katherine Hibbitt and Wathen, and the team scored 13 runs to walk off with a victory.
The Lady Raiders had not won a postseason game since joining the 12th District in 2006. Their most recent postseason win came in 2003 as members of the 11th District.
Tuesday night, Trinity ended the drought with a walk-off win to earn a spot in the title game, clinching a berth in next week’s 3rd Region Tournament.
The Lady Raiders fell behind 2-0 to Grayson County (7-25) early, but finally got on the board in the when Brittney Booker doubled to drive in Cassidy Morris. An RBI-single by Morris tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth.
Hibbitt’s three-runs shot gave Trinity their first lead of the night. Wathen singled and later scored on a sac fly by Georgia Howard, putting the Lady Raiders up 6-2. The rest of the damage came with two outs on the board.
Three straight singles scored a run and kept the bases loaded, and another hit by Morris drove in three runs. Booker again doubled to plate Morris, and a walk by Hibbitt set the stage for Wathen’s walk-off bomb to left.
“In the fifth inning, we decided to get hot in a hurry,” said head coach Jack Melton. “When McKenize Roberts led off the inning with a hit we knew we had to get something going. From Katherine’s three-run home run that took the lead to the timely hits by everyone else in the lineup, it was the spark that we needed from the beginning to get going. Wathen’s walk off three-run home run was a perfect ending to a great team win.”
Morris led the offense, going 3-for-4 with three runs and four RBIs. Hibbitt and Wathen each had two hits, scored twice and drove in three runs. Roberts also had two hits and scored twice, while Booker hit for two doubles and two RBIs.
Hibbitt pitched the complete game in the win, allowing one earned run on six hits.
GCHS 101-00—2-6-5
THS 001-0(13)—14-14-2
WP: Hibbitt. LP: Wathen. 2B: Booker 2 (T). HR: Hibbitt, Wathen (T).
