By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

ALBERTVILLE – They say defense wins championships. That certainly proved to be true for the Spring Garden Lady Panthers on Thursday in their East Softball Regional game at Sand Mountain Park against top-ranked Ider.

Senior catcher Maggie Jarrett was involved in two of the biggest defensive plays in the game, which helped ninth-ranked Spring Garden preserve its lead. The Lady Panthers held on for a 4-3 victory to clinch the regional championship and a berth in next week’s state tournament at Choccolocco Park in Oxford.

Spring Garden (19-11-2) will play Wednesday at 9 a.m. against the North Regional runner-up Lynn.

With the Lady Panthers up a run in the bottom of the fourth inning Thursday morning, Ider was threatening to score with runners at the corners with two outs.

Jarrett noticed Cali Whitaker leaning a little too far off of third. Her snap throw to Lady Panther senior third baseman Olivia Law beat Whitaker back to the bag. Law applied the tag to end the threat.

“In those moments, you’ve just got to put it all in and hope for the best,” Jarrett said. “Knowing all the practice I’ve been doing, I just had faith right there to throw and trust my teammate (Law) to catch it and make the tag.”

An inning later, Ider’s Kahlan Greeson walked with one out. Milee Troxtel delivered a bloop single to right field with two outs. Greeson rounded third on the play trying to score, but she was gunned out on Addie Word’s throw from the outfield to Jarrett.

The play at the plate probably wouldn’t have happened had Spring Garden senior pitcher Avery Steward made the cutoff throw.

“Thank goodness Avery missed it (on the cutoff),” Jarrett joked. “That was really good on Addie’s part, just knowing the play, knowing where the runner was. We were all screaming to throw it to home and she did. That was really good on her part to get the ball in.”

Word just let her instinct take over.

“Somebody yelled two (catcher), and I saw the girl rounding third,” Word said. “I was just like ‘I’m going to go home.’ Maggie got her out. It was just a great play.”

Great defensive plays highlighted Spring Garden’s two days in Albertville, which is something head coach Ann Welsh is proud to see heading into next week’s state tournament.

“We were spot on both days,” she said. “We made some tough plays where we had relays coming into home. We’ve had plays where we shot to first with a runner on third and they go. It’s one of those things you do 100 times at practice, but that one time in the game is really what you practice it for. We had several of those. I’m super proud of the defense and the way they played behind our pitchers.”

Steward earned the win in the circle for the Lady Panthers. She allowed three runs on eight hits with four walks and a pair of strikeouts. She also had a bunt single as part of the Lady Panthers’ three-run third.

“We scored just enough to get by, and our defense made some great plays,” Steward said. “They just kept coming through.”

Law led off the top of the third with a single to left off Ider pitcher Miklyn Troxtel. Following Steward’s bunt single, Helena Ingram delivered a two-run single to right. She later scored on Jarrett’s triple to center.

Helena Ingram led the Lady Panthers at the plate by going 3-for-4. Jarrett went 2-for-3.

“We really wanted to get behind Avery,” Helena Ingram said. “We knew they (Ider) were really good, and it was really a tough game, but our defense and our hitting came along.”

The Lady Hornets responded with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the third. Nine-hole hitter Bailey Ware led off with a single to right, then MaKinley Traylor hit an inside-the-park home run to left to make it a 3-2 game.

Traylor led Ider at the plate by going 3-for-4.

Spring Garden added what proved to be a crucial run in the top of the fifth. With one out, Helena Ingram singled to center, then scored on her sister Layla Ingram’s single to center to make it a 4-2 game.

Traylor tried to rally Ider in its last at-bat by doubling to left to lead off the bottom of the seventh. She scored on Greeson’s pop fly to right with two outs, but Steward struck out Miklya Troxtel to end the game and punch the Lady Panthers’ ticket to Oxford.

“I think we’re starting to peak at the right time of the season,” Steward said. “I think this is probably the best we’ve played as a group here lately. I hope we go down there and play as good as we have been.”

“It feels like we’re really solid right now,” Layla Ingram added. “Everybody’s locked in at practice. I think we’ve all just realized if you lose two games you’re out. None of us want to go home. We have a big group of seniors and we’re all just hungry. We’ve got a chip on our shoulder. This is the year I feel like we can do it.”

Jarrett said the Lady Panthers feel like they have some “unfinished business” in Oxford.

“Every year we get there, we get out within the first two games. That’s not how we want it to go this year,” she said. “We want to make it all the way and win state this year. I think we can do it if we keep showing up to play like we played today.”