By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
ALBERTVILLE – This year’s Cherokee County High School softball team may not have realized why first-year head coach Heather Hawk scheduled so many tough tournaments on their scheduled at the beginning of the season, but they certainly do now following Monday and Tuesday’s Class 4A East Regional at Albertville’s Sand Mountain Park.
Coming into Tuesday, the Lady Warriors knew they had to win three games in order to make the state tournament in Oxford. It was a gauntlet of a task, one in which the Lady Warriors gave their best shot.
They opened the day against area rival White Plains for the sixth time this season and won 5-1. Their next game against Westminster Christian was even more of a battle, as the Lady Warriors won on a walk-off hit by Sofie Dawson to propel them into a rematch against second-ranked West Limestone.
Cherokee County lost its regional opener 9-1 to the Lady Wildcats on Monday, but Tuesday’s rematch proved the Lady Warriors could be much more competitive.
After spotting West Limestone an early five-run lead, the Lady Warriors finally began to chip away against pitcher Katie Lyn Kyle. They scored three runs off of her in the top of the sixth inning to make it a two-run game, but Cherokee County’s comeback attempt came just a little too late. The Lady Warriors’ season ended with a 6-3 setback.
“We’ve played in events and tournaments this season that have put us in those crucial moments, to feel that pressure, against teams we weren’t supposed to beat this season,” Hawk said. “We faced the pitching that we needed to face. We made ourselves uncomfortable so that we could get comfortable in the postseason.”
Even though they fell just short of state on Tuesday, the Lady Warriors (30-20) can take solace in playing their best ball when they needed to the most.
“Our goal this year was to get mentally stronger and be able to overcome adversity in the hard moments, to push through those tough plays when we need to, to battle from behind, and to make sure our focus was our team,” Hawk said.
Much like the majority of her remarkable career, the Lady Warriors’ driving force on Tuesday was senior pitcher Emma Hill. Hill pitched in every single inning of Cherokee County’s games. She held White Plains to an earned run on six hits with a walk and five strikeouts. Hill then held Westminster Christian to just four hits and fanned seven batters to set up the Lady Warriors’ rematch against West Limestone.
Hill was also a force for the Lady Warriors at the plate, going a combined 4-for-10 with two RBIs on Tuesday.
“She is so much more of an athlete just in one season with us than I ever thought she could be,” Hawk said. “She has so much to offer and she’s contributed so much already to our younger athletes. Her adversity on the mound, her dedication, her drive, she knows we all lean on her to push us to be better. She’s a blessing.”
Against White Plains, Hill had a double and a RBI. Sydni Frost managed a pair of hits, a walk, and a run. Dawson and Kaylee Lewis both tripled. Dawson also walked and drove in a pair of runs. Lewis scored a run. Brooklynn Bruce added a hit and a run. Izzy Patterson posted a hit. Emma Eberhart walked three times and scored a run.
In the win over Westminster Christian, Hill found herself in a pitchers duel with Carleigh Gothart. The game was decided in the Lady Warriors’ final at-bat. Anna Morris singled with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning and scored on Dawson’s walk-off single to right.
Hill led the Lady Warriors with a pair of hits. Patterson and Aubrey Pack both finished with a hit.
In the season finale against West Limestone, Patterson doubled, walked, scored a run, and had a pair of RBIs. Dawson delivered a hit, a walk, and a run. Hill had a hit and a RBI. Frost and Bruce both contributed a hit.
“It just took us too long (to make adjustments against West Limestone pitcher Kyle) and we ran out of time in the end,” Hawk said. “Being able to go from a 9-1 (game in the regional opener) to being able to compete with them, push them, and make them play, it gave us a little bit of hope.”
Not just hope for that last game, but for the Lady Warriors’ future.
