AISA AA FINALS: Last-inning heroics lead to Hooper state title

The Hooper Academy Colts raise the championship trophy after their come-from-behind win over Edgewood Academy at Lagoon Park on Saturday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

Hooper Academy’s softball team entered the Class AA finals against arch rival Edgewood Academy with gaudy offensive numbers that were shared by the Wildcats. 

With a championship on the line, however, it was small ball that would determine the outcome.

Both teams, accustomed to hammering pitches over the fence, turned to bunts to manufacture runs, the last one crossing the plate on an error following a bunt that gave the Colts a 6-5 win over the Wildcats for their second consecutive Class AA state title at Lagoon Park Softball Complex on Saturday.

“We practice (bunting) every day but my hitters are so strong, it’s hard to take the bat out of their hands,” Hooper Academy coach Elyse Grier said. “But situational ball calls for it sometimes. Sometimes you’ve got to do the small ball, make them make plays. And sometimes they mess up. We do, too. That’s part of it.

“Edgewood is a great team. With Ashley Burgess on the mound, she has definitely put in the work against us, I can tell you that. She’s done a good job.”

Burgess was spectacular, having allowed just three hits before the Colts finally put together their best offense of the day with a two-run rally in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 5-5 and force extra innings.

In the top of the eighth, Haylee Coleman was placed on second base, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Katelynn Shaner and was stranded there when Hooper ace Victoria Hagemann struck out Avey Rambo and retired Evie Sullivan on a groundout.

In the bottom of the eighth, Jaslynn Harris was placed on second base and Katie Robinson followed with a well-placed bunt in front of the plate. Edgewood catcher Lindsey Brown quickly fielded the ball and looked at Harris to freeze her at third, then threw toward first in a throw that bounced off second baseman Lexie Smith’s extended glove and went down the right field line, allowing Harris to score the game-winning run from third.

“Everybody in the stands knew it was coming, that’s what (the situation) calls for,” Grier said. “She just sailed it. She got too amped up for the play, I guess.”

It was a disappointing finish for the ultra-succcessful Brown, who went 3 for 4, scored a run and drove in another, and her mother Kim, the retiring Edgewood coach, but a exhilarating finish for Hooper (32-8), which won its second consecutive state championship after reaching the finals just once in its first 14 state tournament appearances.  

“I’ve got eight of my nine starters back, so they understand the mentality part of it,” Grier said. “But to me, it’s a little more pressure, whether they realize it or not. Winning one is one thing. Having to repeat and go back to back is another. Everybody’s coming after you and you’ve got a target on your back.”

Brown’s athletic ability turned a base-stealing opportunity into a run following an error by the Colts in the third inning and three bunts in four at-bats in the fifth -- sandwiched around an RBI single up the middle by Brown -- helped Edgewood to a 3-2 lead in the fifth.

 Hooper answered in kind as KG Taylor’s surprise squeeze bunt in the fourth inning tied the game at 1-1 and the Colts would use another bunt in the fifth to tie the game again, this time at 3-3.

Hagemann, accustomed to having comfortable leads late, had held the Wildcats in check for most of the game until an error following a Burgess single and an RBI single by Channing McAnnally gave the Wildcats a 5-3 lead in the seventh.

“I knew if I did my job, we were going to get hits eventually,” Hagemann said, “so I was just relying on that.”

It was Hagemann who supplied a key hit in the bottom of the seventh as her RBI double to left field scored Annie Bressler and KG Taylor followed with a two-out RBI single to tie the game. But another bunt attempt failed as a bases-loaded bunt was fielded quickly by Brown, who stepped on home plate to force extra innings. 

It was the type of game one would expect from the two arch rivals, who have split six meetings earlier this season.

“I would rather play Edgewood because the two of us are the best two in AISA, I think,” Hagemann said. “It was definitely nerve-wracking but I knew we had it from the get-go.”

“When it comes to championships, it’s the best of the best,” Grier said. “And they are a good team. When it was February and we first started playing, I felt like Edgewood would be one of the ones we would have to face in the finals just because they are a solid team.” 

Making the all-tournament team were Edgewood Academy’s Brown, Burgess and Shaner, along with Hooper Academy’s Kaylee Midkiff, Taylor, Robinson and Hagemann. 

AISA SOFTBALL STATE TOURNAMENT RESULTS

CLASS AA

Game 1 -- Edgewood Academy 11, Jackson Academy 3

Game 2 -- Southern Academy 10, Abbeville Christian Academy 9

Game 3 -- Patrician Academy 5, Chambers Academy 3

Game 4 -- Hooper Academy 10, Pickens Academy 1

Game 5 -- Abbeville Christian Academy 14, Jackson Academy 2

Game 6 -- Chambers Academy 14, Pickens Academy 8

Game 7 -- Edgewood Academy 2, Southern Academy 1

Game 8 -- Hooper Academy 10, Patrician Academy 0

Game 9 -- Abbeville Christian Academy 7, Patrician Academy 4 

Game 10 -- Southern Academy 9, Chambers Academy 1

Game 11 -- Hooper Academy 16, Edgewood Academy 2

Game 12 -- Abbeville Christian Academy 7, Southern Academy 4

Game 13 -- Edgewood Academy 12, Abbeville Christian Academy 4

Game 14 -- Championship, Hooper Academy 6, Edgewood Academy 5