NEW HOPE — For the New Hope High School softball team, success in the postseason rewards the hard work put in throughout the year. And that hard work has landed them in the MHSAA Class 5A North State Championship after a 10-2 win over Vicksburg on Saturday.
“We knew from the beginning that we had something special this year, the hardest thing was getting them to believe that,” Trojans coach Casey Finch Halford said. “We stacked our schedule hard, played a lot of good competitors, good programs that win a lot. We took some falls early on, but we needed to see if they were gonna rise to the occasion, and they did.”
Pitcher Kensley Woolbright came on during the second inning and fought her way out of a couple of tough situations, including a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the second. Woolbright then hit a two-run single during a three-run fourth that gave the Trojans a 6-1 lead.
“We knew coming in there was gonna be a lot of pressure to stay focused, stay in our zone, playing our game, and playing for the person beside us,” Woolbright said. “This group of girls, we’ve been together for the last couple of years, and we just pump each other up. We’re there for each other, and we just want all good things for each other.
“We don’t want our own success, we want a team victory and team success. That’s what we’re fighting for, lifting each other up through the highs and the lows.”
The work done early to play the toughest opponents possible has clearly paid dividends for the Trojans, and Halford was very proud after the win in giving recognition to her team for collectively building a winner’s mentality by overcoming adversity.
“We did get a little defeated at times this year, but we told them the purpose in stacking the schedule like we did was because if we were gonna make a run we need to play the teams that always go deep,” Finch said.
New Hope (20-12-1) is on an eight-game winning streak, including six consecutive wins in the postseason.
“That changed their mindset, and they started clicking their chemistry, and they’re playing well and not letting so many negative things affect them. Our big thing is to control the controllables, be comfortable being uncomfortable, and that way they haven’t gotten as nervous in pressure situations, and I’m really proud of them for that.”
Woolbright finished 2 for 5 with two RBIs and three runs, while Adi Dueitt went 3 for 3 with three RBIs. Zoe Goodman went 3 for 5 and scored twice, while Lailah Henderson had two hits, walked twice and scored two runs.
The Trojans will face Saltillo or Neshoba Central for the 5A North State title beginning Friday, May 13. Those teams split the first two games of their series and will meet Monday in Saltillo to settle the issue.
Friday
New Hope 6, Vicksburg 0: Adi Dueitt was dominant, allowing three hits and walking none while striking out 10 in a complete game, as the Trojans cruised to a Game 1 victory on Friday night in Vicksburg.
The Trojans got all the runs they would need with a two-out rally in the top of the first. Kensley Woolbright singled and scored on a double by Zoe Goodman, who scored on a single by Taylor Brownlee.
An inning late, Emma O’Bryant led off with a single, and courtesy runner Lexi Sonak stole second, then scored on a single by Conerly Moody. Two outs later, the Trojans were back at it. Lexi McBrayer was on after taking second after a throw home on her single got Moody trying to score. Woolbright singled to put runners at the corners, and Goodman doubled again, scoring both runners for a 5-0 New Hope lead.
Meanwhile, Dueitt was perfect through three, the first hit coming leading off the bottom of the fourth. Unfazed, Dueitt then struck out the side to maintain the shutout. Dueitt retired the side in order again in the fifth, then surrendered a two-out double to Amari Johnson, who had two of the Gators’ hits. Dueitt induced a pop-up to first to end the inning.
Vicksburg finally mounted a threat in the seventh, with an error and a double putting runners on second and third with one out. But Dueitt rose to the occasion, this time getting a pop-up to Brownlee at third for the second out and ending the game with her 10th strikeout.
Goodman had a monster game, going 4 for 4 with three doubles, three RBIs and two runs. Brownlee had three hits and two RBIs, while Woolbright scored twice.
