Have y’all recovered from Saturday yet? I’m not sure if I have.

Over eight hours of grueling softball that involved extra innings, injury scares, setbacks and triumphs, Saturday proved to be a true sports roller-coaster.

But it was with it. They did it. The Eastside Lady Eagles are the 2025 4A State Champions.

Right after Eva Davis stole the potential game-tying home run to secure the last out, I immediately had two thoughts run through my mind.

The first immediate thought was pure joy. While this has only been my second year covering the Lady Eagles, one thing that was clear to anyone who watched even one game is that this team was locked in all year. After the heartbreak from last year’s state championship loss, this team knew what had to be done, and they went out and accomplished it.

The second thought I had was a question. Is this the greatest state championship team in Newton County history?

Recency bias might suggest not. After all, the 1963-64 Newton County basketball team and the 2021-22 Social Circle girls soccer team – both dominant teams like the Lady Eagles – hold a claim to that throne. But the 2025 Lady Eagles certainly have a claim, too.

The first point in the argument comes with the Lady Eagles’ domination of nearly every game they played in. For two months, the Lady Eagles went undefeated, knocking down every opponent they faced. 

Oftentimes, teams wouldn’t even make it the full seven innings. Their lone regular season loss came to Buford, who went on to win the 6A state championship and become the No. 1 ranked team in the country.

After breezing by the round of 32, the next task was against Cedartown, a series that I personally covered. The Lady Eagles survived, but not without a trace. Davis and Donee Morain both got injured and traveled to Columbus a bit banged up. 

That was the first giant hurdle the Lady Eagles had to overcome. No matter how deep you are, potentially losing two D-I softball talents never helps your chances in a title hunt. Thankfully, they both played, even if not at 100%.

Day one was kind to the Lady Eagles, scoring wins over Union Grove and their new nemesis, Harris County. It seemed like they were in the driver’s seat to destiny.

But then day two happened. 

In their Friday matchup against Kell, the Lady Eagles just could not get it going. The bats were off, the pitching was off. It just wasn’t meant to be.

After losing 3-2 to Kell on Friday, the Lady Eagles no longer controlled their destiny. In order to claim a state title, they would have to defeat Harris County once and, if they survived, Kell twice.

On the surface, this seemed absolutely improbable. 

For starters, pitching was going to be an issue. The Lady Eagles are fortunate in that they have two ace pitchers in Davis and Kylee Lawrence. 

But after Davis’ uncharacteristically shaky performance on Friday, the team had to go back to Lawrence after she threw 162 pitches the day before. That meant Lawrence had thrown 245 pitches going into Saturday’s potential three-game matchup. Most professional baseball players probably couldn’t handle that.

It looked even less promising after freshman standout Jayah Johnson had to leave the first game due to an injury after colliding with a Harris County defender.

But if fate had it one way, then destiny had another. 

A gutsy extra-innings battle, back-to-back homers and a herculean-like surge in Game No. 3 proved to the world that the Eastside Lady Eagles just wanted it more.

And alas after 23.5 innings, nearly 500 pitches between Davis and Lawrence and 8.5 hours later, Saturday’s improbability became a reality.

I cannot neglect the other great state champions Newton County has produced. The aforementioned 1963-64 Newton County basketball squad and 2021-22 Social Circle Lady Redskins soccer teams are legendary teams in their own right. And, of course, who could forget the cinderella-run of the 2024-25 Newton Lady Rams?

But it’s rare to see someone come into a tournament as a favorite, quickly become the underdog, play nearly eight consecutive hours of a sport in a day and come out on top. It’s stuff movies are made of.

Regardless of my “hot take” about where the Lady Eagles rank in the county history book, it’s an absolute pleasure to see a team that’s worked so hard get what they deserve. It’s something that won’t be forgotten soon enough.

Congrats, Lady Eagles. You deserve it.

Evan Newton is the managing editor of The Covington News. He can be reached at enewton@covnews.com.