BENTON -- Back-to-back run-scoring singles from freshman Madison Morton and junior Preslie Morgan in the fifth inning carried Taylor to a 2-1 victory over Concord in Friday's championship game of the Class 1A softball state tournament at the Benton Sports Complex.
The Lady Tigers (29-3) used three hits and two stolen bases in the fifth inning to claim the program's fifth state title.
"I figured this game would be 2-1 or 13-12," Taylor Coach Adam Camp said. "This was two great teams. I knew they hit us but I knew we could hit them. I knew it would be either one or the other."
Taylor sophomore Lindsey Downs won the pitcher's duel with Concord's Kendal White. Downs, the tournament's MVP, tossed a five-hitter. She walked one and fanned three.
"[Downs] was fighting heat exhaustion and was sick in the dugout," Camp said. "But she's a warrior. You won't find a sophomore with that kind of leadership and that kind of heart that she has."
White limited Taylor to 8 hits, striking out 4 and walking 2. The Lady Pirates' defense helped her out by turning two double plays.
"Our pitcher was great. Their pitcher was great," Concord Coach Keith Cornett said. "It came down to them getting a couple of girls on and getting back-to-back hits."
Junior catcher McKenzie Boyett started Taylor's game-winning rally with a one-out single. After a stolen base and a strikeout, Morton tied the game with a line single to center. After Morton got the second steal of the inning, Morgan duplicated Morton's line single to center for what became the game's deciding run.
"I heard Coach Camp say wait on a change-up," Morgan said. "I knew we'd hit the gaps eventually. I knew we'd score runs."
Taylor left five runners on base in the first two innings. A one-out double by Boyett, a walk to Downs and an error on a ball hit by Morton loaded the bases in the first inning for the Lady Tigers, but White struck out Morgan and got senior Lexi Nolte to pop out.
In the second inning, junior Keely Collinger and sophomore Riley Hoyle each hit back-to-back singles, but the rally died on back-to-back popups.
Camp said leaving runners stranded early in the game was concerning.
"We've had big hits all throughout the tournament, but at the same time I knew [White] was a good pitcher," Camp said. "She did a good job of keeping us off balance. But we made something happen, and we got some runs across."
Concord scored its lone run in the second inning without the aid of a hit. White was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and the run scored on a wild pitch.
Taylor junior Jasmyn Copeland turned three nice plays at third base. Her throw across the diamond in the fourth inning kept Concord from taking a 2-0 lead. She also capped the fifth inning with a snag of a line drive, and she started the sixth inning with another solid throw for a putout.
Senior shortstop Kaleah Davis had two doubles to lead Concord's hitters, but both times the Lady Pirates failed to get the run home.
"She's a dandy," Cornett said of Davis. "She's a good hitter, and she's been here three times. There's not a lot of girls who can say that."
Concord junior Maggie Helms reached on an infield single with one out in the seventh inning, but Downs got freshman Nikki Duke to line out to Morgan at shortstop for the second out before getting a called third strike on sophomore Avery Southerland to end the game.
"I figured we'd hit a little better than we did," Cornett said. "But we didn't. It was just two good pitchers going against each other."
Sports on 05/19/2018