COLUMBUS, Ga. — Twenty-four innings. Three games. One championship.

The odds were stacked against Eastside to win the Class AAAA state title, but the Lady Eagles ended it all on their terms.

After a loss to Kell on Friday, Eastside needed to win three straight games back-to-back-to-back against two of the state’s best teams.

Improbably, they did so, defeating Harris County 6-5  in a 10-inning showdown and against Kell with final scores of 5-3 and 9-6, respectively.

The wins marked Eastside’s first softball state championship since their second of back-to-back AA state titles in 1999.

How did they do it? The answer is simple, according to head coach Heather Wood.

“These girls — their goal was to win a state championship,” Wood said. “It wasn't easy, they knew that. This shows that no one wanted it as bad as them. They were gritty, and they had a goal all season long. These are the moments they have been waiting for and I am so proud of them. I love this group so much.”

Backs against the wall, the Lady Eagles finish the job 

In what was the final game of the day, Eastside’s best performance occurred when the team needed it the most.

The team had already won consecutive games over Harris County and Kell at that point, Eastside needed to down the Lady Longhorns one more time to secure the trophy.

After the team suffered a crushing defeat to the Lady Eagles less than an hour prior, Kell got ahead early.

Back-to-back walks to start the game led to a pair of runs on at-bats from Lyla Morici and Saundra Layne.

The Lady Eagles trailed early, but they managed to get a run back thanks to reigning All-Cov News Slugger of the Year Donee Morain’s leadoff single. This led to a RBI knock from Allie Vaughn.

After a scoreless frame from Eva Davis on the mound, it happened: The rally.

Kylee Lawrence led off the inning and saw three pitches before she deposited the fourth over the center field fence for a solo home run to tie it.

Freshman Jayah Johnson then stepped in the box and wasted no time.

One pitch: Gone.

It was not Johnson’s initial goal to ambush the first pitch, but it proved to be the right call.

“I did not have a good hitting week, but I just knew that my team needed me right there,” Johnson said. “I just slowed the game down and swung.”

Back-to-back home runs put the Lady Eagles ahead 3-2, but an RBI single from Ansley Hartman later in the frames doubled the lead to 4-2.

Eva Davis took care of business with a one-two-three frame, and the bats followed with another rally.

This time, it was of the two-out variety as Kamryn Davis dropped a bunt single with the bases loaded to make it 5-2.

The bases were still loaded, but not for long. 

Morain capitalized in the next at-bat with a bases-clearing three-run double that made it a 8-2 lead.

Hartman followed her second RBI knock as she established a 9-2 advantage as the game went into the fourth.

Kell began to slowly chip away in the fifth inning when it brought the game to within six runs on a RBI knock. 

One inning later, the Lady Longhorn cut the lead in half on a three run home run from Sami Shackelford that sent the Kell bench and its fans into a frenzy.

With momentum in the balance, Kell mounted what looked to be another rally.

Two batters managed to reach and the tying run hit a ball deep into right field.

Some fans thought it was gone, but those thoughts quickly changed when Eva Davis ran the ball down to make the catch — state champions.

Around 15 minutes after she made the grab to bring the trophy to Eastside, Eva Davis expressed how there was little doubt in the Lady Eagles going into Saturday.

“I think [it was] having the depth that we have and the confidence we have in every single player from top to bottom, bench or not,” Eva Davis said. “We knew we were the only team that could make it for three straight games. We have such a deep staff, I am confident in every single person on this team. There was never a doubt in my mind that we wouldn’t come out and win three.”

How did we get here?

Eastside's first day in Columbus ended with a pair of wins.

The first came over Union Grove while the second came over the defending Class AAAA champ, Harris County.

However, Friday proved to be the low point of the week as the Lady Eagles fell to Kell in a close 2-3 affair.

For the Lady Eagles to advance to the final and eliminate Harris County again, but it took more than expected. In fact, it took a four-run comeback that turned into a 10-inning affair between the two teams.

It was a game that featured home runs, great defensive plays and stellar pitching.

When it was all said and done, it turned out to be a bunt that sealed the deal for the Lady Eagles.

Lawrence started the game for Eastside but the Lady Tigers jumped ahead early.

A leadoff double from Ivy McCormick led to an RBI single from Chloe Wolfenbarger that put the game’s first run on the board.

One inning later, Harris County cashed in a pair of walks when Gracue Guthrey sent a two-run single up the middle.

Lawrence earned the second out, but Miller Daniel took a big swing in the ensuing at-bat that sent the ball to the left field fence.

The ball had the distance, but Eastside’s Kamryn Davis tracked it down and made the catch as she tumbled over the outfield netting.

The sophomore outfielder held onto the ball, and the catch ultimately saved two runs.

The two teams went scoreless in the next two innings before McCormick sent a ball over the left field wall that was not caught.

McCormick's solo homer made it a 4-0 lead for Harris County, but Eastside was not done yet.

Two Eastside batters were plunked and another was walked to load the bases.

With two outs in the frame, Morain hit a hard-hit ball through the left side of the infield to cut the Harris County lead in half.

Next up was Hartman, who came through with a two-run single into center field to tie the game at 4-4.

Eastside began to rally in the sixth inning as Eva Davis was hit by the pitch and Savanna Griffin reached on an error.

With two runners on, Lawrence put down a great bunt that scored the runner and put Eastside ahead. 

However, the lead was short lived as Harris County came through with a game-tying single from Wolfenbarger.

What followed were back-to-back scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth as the two teams could not generate the knockout punch.

When the 10th inning began, each team got a courtesy runner at second to start the frame.

Even then, Eva Davis delivered to strand the runner in the top of the inning.

After a sacrifice bunt and pop up moved Eastside’s runner over to third, Griffin came to the plate with a chance to win.

The big-swinger dropped a bunt, but it was misplayed and Harris County could not get the out at third to end the game.

After a crushing defeat on Friday, Saturday’s 10-inning opener showed the team’s resilience, according to Wood.

“I knew how bad the girls wanted it,” Wood said. “Last night we made it hard on ourselves and our pitchers were not as rested as we wanted them to be. But, it just comes down to how they wanted it. They did it.”

The Lady Eagles took a brief break before they took on Kell, but the bat did not. Right from the opening frame, the Lady Eagles jumped ahead.

Hartman singled to open the game, and Vaughn drove her in shortly thereafter on an RBI double into the left field corner.

Lawrence took the mound once again for the Lady Eagles and pitched the entirety of the game as her strong week continued

The one-run lead lasted until the third inning, when a pair of walks came back to bite the Lady Eagles.

With two runners on base on walks, a groundball to second base took a bad hop that allowed it to roll into the infield. The result was an error that scored both runs as Kell took a 2-1 lead.

Lawrence singled in the next inning to set up what looked to be a rally, but an inning-ending double play kept Eastside from tying the game.

Following a single from Kamryn Davis in the fifth, the tie finally arrived when Hartman drove her in on a RBI groundout.

However, Kell answered immediately.

Morici led off the bottom of the frame with an opposite field blast that put the Lady Longhorns ahead 3-2.

One inning later, Eastside answered.

A leadoff double from Eva Davis led to a RBI groundout from Lawrence that tied the game at 3-3, but they were not done.

Two more batters reached, and Kamryn Davis delivered with a bunt single that gave Eastside the go-ahead run. Lawrence added a key insurance run in the top of the seventh on a RBI double, but she ultimately did not need it.

The Memphis commit went back out onto the mound in the seventh and shut the door on Kell and opened one of her own for Eastside to compete for the state title.

The 5-3 win kept the season alive, and secured a win-or-go-home game between Eastside and Kell with the Class AAAA Championship on the line.

Eastside played a long game prior to facing Kell, but that did not stop the team from outhitting the Lady Longhorns 11-2.

Eva Davis, Lawrence, and Johnson all came away with multi-hit games.

Final thoughts

The Class AAAA Championship concluded an Eastside season in which the team went 33-2.

The Lady Eagles had many players step up, but the standard was set by a key group of seniors that Wood attributed the success to.

“We saw [the fight] in them so early in their careers here at Eastside,” Wood said. “They have been carrying the weight of this all year. I know they have been under a lot of pressure and highs and lows throughout the season. For them to really put it all together at the end. This is one of the best senior classes we have ever had."