Bradley Central senior Madison Long crouched in the pitcher's circle as Tori Cagle's glove found the final softball that was hit during the TSSAA District 6-4A championship game Wednesday night.
The sophomore third baseman stepped on the bag for the last out to seal a 13-6 victory over host East Hamilton, and with that, the Bearettes put an end to a long postseason drought as their unstoppable bats recorded 15 hits — including six for extra bases — to help secure the program's first district tournament title since 2007.
Miley Broom and Karly Farkas, two more sophomores, sparked the lineup in the fourth inning as each hit a two-run home run, with Broom's blast off the scoreboard in left field providing Bradley Central's first lead.
"After losing to East Hamilton 11-2 last night, we just told our girls to not lay down," Bearettes coach Hallie Geren said. "They came out here today and refused to quit. East Hamilton got ahead early, but we fought and didn't stop. We never got complacent and continued to hit.
"The girls showed up and showed out. I could not be prouder of how they have composed themselves. They wanted this championship and came hungry. They weren't satisfied until the finish."
East Hamilton junior pitcher and slugger Yulai Woodruff upped her strikeout total for the season to 229 with nine more Wednesday, a night after increasing her home run total to seven, and she was able to even the score at 4 in the bottom of the fourth with a sacrifice fly to left field.
However, Bradley Central (17-19) would score seven runs in the fifth, including a bases-clearing double by junior Lynne Hodge.
Sophomore Alliyssia Herbold drove in the Bearettes' 11th and 12th runs of the game with well-struck doubles in the fifth and seventh innings, and Farkas collected a game-high four hits and also made a great play in the field. After making a line-drive snag down the first-base line, she threw to shortstop Ma'Ryah Greenwood to double up a runner at second base in the sixth inning.
"We helped each other and talked about how they were pitching through all of our at-bats," Farkas said. "We got into a rhythm at the plate and really had fun today. Alliyssia Herbold hyped us all up and was loud the whole game."
The Bearettes had five players with multiple, hits including Greenwood and fellow freshman Addi Staton.
Kaitlyn Bailey recorded the win in relief as the senior backed up sophomore Gracie Ownby, who in her first varsity start of the season limited East Hamilton (17-11) to four runs despite heavy traffic on the basepaths.
The Lady Hurricanes finished with 10 hits and drew 12 walks, but they just missed getting the big hits. Henley Apps went 2-for-2 with a double and three walks, while Bailey Poschke and Faith Wadley had two hits apiece. Wadley's hits included an RBI triple.
"Our girls came back from a tough loss last night and scored 13 on a fantastic team with a fantastic pitcher," Geren said of Woodruff. "They went beyond expectations of what we could ask for. They accomplished something we haven't done in a really long time with an exceptional team effort."
With the win, the Bearettes will host the Region 3-4A tournament that begins Monday. They will face Walker Valley (27-7-1) in the region semifinals, while District 5-4A champion Cleveland (22-14) will take on East Hamilton.
Cleveland beat Walker Valley 6-5 to win its title, led by senior Ashley Allen's pair of two-run homers. The Lady Blue Raiders fought back from a 3-0 deficit to win district regular-season and tournament titles in the same season for the first time in program history.
Meanwhile, Soddy Daisy was a walk-off winner in the District 6-3A tournament, 10-9 over Hixson, via Reagan Rowan's homer in the eighth inning. The Lady Trojans (20-10-1) had 19 hits in the extra-inning victory, with Skylar Gooden and Brooke Raines recording four hits apiece. Raines was a triple shy of the cycle, and Ava Blue and Abby Faires also homered for Soddy Daisy.
Hixson's Meghan Kernea doubled and drove in three runs, while Grace Quarles had three hits and scored twice in the defeat.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.