It looked like “if” was going to turn into “when.”
Then the Kosciusko”s bats kicked into gear and ended an afternoon in the sun with some championship relief.
Buoyed by a two-run home run by Verlynn Johnson in a five-run bottom of the sixth inning, Jaidyn Sims” run-scoring single down the right-field line in the seventh lifted Kosciusko”s 8-and-under Dizzy Dean All-Stars to an 11-10 victory against the Caledonia Diamond Divas in the North state tournament at Propst Park.
The hits capped an improbably rally that saw Kosciusko rebound from a slow start that featured three scoreless frames in the first five innings.
Despite the rocky beginning, Kosciusko coach Johnny Sims said no one doubted his squad could come all of the way back and prevent Caledonia from forcing the “if necessary” game in the double-elimination event.
“We had the bottom of the order and the top coming up,” Sims said. “I knew if we got one girl on base we would come through. They never give up. They never gave up the whole tournament. We preach it and preach it.”
The victory provided a cooling reward for Kosciusko”s Landrey Gardner, who was doused with a cooler filled with ice and water after the game. Sims said the prize was meant for him, but said Gardner had been promised it and wasn”t quick enough to escape her teammates.
Kosciusko opened the day with a 10-9 victory against Caledonia at 10 a.m. It then defeated Columbus at 1 p.m. and had to wait more than three hours before it took the field again. Being the only undefeated team remaining in the tournament, Caledonia needed to beat Kosciusko twice to win the title.
For six and a half innings it looked like it would accomplish that goal.
A five-run second inning was the highlight as the Diamond Divas scored in every inning until the sixth. Caledonia also played solid defense for the majority of the game, including a 1-2-3 inning late in the game.
Unfortunately, three errors in the sixth helped Kosciusko rally. Still, both teams will get to represent the North at the state tournament in Ridgeland in two weeks. Caledonia coach Sean Glasgow, who suffered a leg cramp in the top of the third inning, said his team will take a well-deserved break to prepare for the event.
Caledonia won three games in a row and played from 10 a.m. through the final game, which ended right around 6 p.m.
“When you get into the losers” bracket, I told them this morning that I thought they would be in for a long day,” said Glasgow of his team that included players from Vernon and Millport, Ala., and Caledonia. “I felt like we would be here late after seeing the competition, and they fought back. They dug in.”
Team members are: Maddie Suggs, Emma Newman, Jada Glasgow, Olivia Boykin, Cammie Rogers, Addie Beasley, Taylor Criddle, Nealy McManus, Jala Harris, and Katelyn McNair.
Glasgow said the coaches used fruit, Gatorade, and water to help keep the players fresh. He looked like he could have used some of that formula after the game as he limped off the field to his car after throwing more than a few hundred pitches, which he said he is used to.
Sims, who also pitched for his team, is used to the same work load. He left with a little more of a pep in his step after family members and friends took plenty of photos to remember the occasion.
A rally for the ages is certainly a great way to end a hot day filled with softball.
“I feel like they want to go to Ridgeland, and I hope we can do good,” Sims said.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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