The old saying goes, revenge is a dish best served cold. And state championships are best served with two scoops. The CCA Lady Patriots got both on Saturday in Columbus, avenging a third-game loss to the David Emanuel Academy Eagles on Friday by winning two in a row with the Class A state title on the line.
The Lady Patriots won the first championship game easily 8-1. The second game was a different story. The two teams went back and forth for seven innings until CCA won when senior Cadence Cravey scored eighth grader Klair Mercer with a one-out walk-off single to centerfield.
It was a changing of the guard, if you will. A passing of the torch. The battle-tested senior handing the program over to the underclassmen, giving CCA fans a glimpse into the future of the program.
But that kind of esoteric gibberish can wait for another day. At the moment, there are more pressing matters to discuss — like a second consecutive state championship.
The Eagles stunned the Lady Patriots Friday at noon, handing them the kind of beating they haven’t suffered at the hands of any region opponent in a long time. DEA won 12-0 in a run-rule shortened game, something CCA was neither expecting nor used to. The girls bounced back and beat Thomas Jefferson Academy 4-0 for a berth in the state title game Saturday morning. But they would have their work cut out for them; the Lady Patriots would have to beat the Eagles twice whereas the Eagles only needed to beat CCA once.
“I just told them that coincidences aren’t a thing. We were put in this position for a reason and just think of the story we can tell now. Yeah, we made it a little harder but our goals were still in front of us. We still had a chance to get it done,” said head coach Jeremy Coram.
The first game didn’t offer much in the way of any drama. The Lady Patriots followed the template they’ve used for the last two years – jump out to an early lead, keep their feet on the gas, and don’t let up. They scored four in the first, one in the second, and three in the fourth while DEA could only muster a single run in the third inning.
Gracie Giddens (3-4, two runs, two RBI) and Emma Gourley (2-4, two runs) led the Lady Patriots offensively. An injury-plagued Peighton Harper, who threw a 110-pitch complete game, also drove in three.
Game two – that one had a different script altogether. Coach Coram gave the ball to Harper once again. “I can’t say enough about Peighton. She’s been battling a back injury and I just wanted her to pitch. We have such a good defense behind her when she’s in the circle. I just told her this morning, We’re going to ride this as long as we can. She threw a gem of a game one. We gave them that one run. In game two, she gave me all she had. She just ran out of gas,” said Coach Coram.
The Eagles scored two in the first but the Lady Patriots answered with four in the bottom of the inning. Brilynn Waldron hit a one-out single then scored when Giddens reached on an error. Mercer followed with a double that scored Giddens. After a strikeout, Mattie Lewis singled; both she and Mercer scored when DEA mishandled the play. After one inning, CCA had a 4-2 lead.
Things went fairly quietly until the fifth inning. Three straight Eagles singled, scoring two runs and tying the game at four with nobody out. Coach Coram sent Giddens to the circle to relieve Harper. After giving up a walk, Giddens retired two in a row before Bailey McNure doubled to left, scoring Rayleigh Faircloth and giving DEA a 5-4 late-inning lead. “Gracie did a great job. She came in, shut the door, and pitched out of the jam. Gracie was able to close that down with just one run. That gave us the chance to tie it up in the bottom of the inning,” said Coach Coram.
Gourley led off the bottom of the fifth with a double. Brilynn Waldron singled then Giddens walked to load the bases. Mercer was up next and hit a grounder to McNure at third. She got the out but Gourley scored to tie the game at five. Two consecutive flyouts ended the inning but the Lady Patriots had closed the gap.
Giddens retired the Eagles in order in the top of the sixth. In the bottom of the inning, the Lady Patriots had an opportunity but couldn’t get a run across. Pinch runner Lily Waldron made it to third and Gourley was at second with two outs and Giddens at the plate. On a 2-2 pitch, she hit a line drive into the glove of DEA shortstop Aubrey Scott, ending the inning.
Missing out on that kind of opportunity late in the game can demoralize a team. But the Lady Patriots remained focused and their confidence never wavered. After Faircloth reached on a walk, Giddens got the next three Eagles to end the inning.
Then came the bottom of the seventh.
Mercer walked then Abrah Harris bunted. Nobody covered first on the bunt and both Mercer and Harris were safe. That brought Lewis to the plate – probably not who the Eagles wanted to see with the game and championship on the line. Faircloth challenged Lewis and this time, she won, retiring Lewis for the first out of the inning. That sent Cravey to the plate – a senior in what was likely the last at-bat of her career with an eighth grader in scoring position. It was the proverbial closing of one chapter and the beginning of another.
But first, Cravey had to get a hit.
She took a strike then watched ball one. After taking another strike, she saw ball two. And then ball three. Just like every kid playing in every backyard across the country, she had a 3-2 count with the winning run on base and a championship on the line. Cravey fouled off one pitch. Then another. On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, she drove a line drive to center. Mercer took off for home and had no intention of stopping. She made it safely and the Lady Patriots won 6-5, bringing home a second consecutive state championship.
“A storybook ending? You’ve got a senior coming up. What’s she going to do? Cadence hit a freaking line drive up the middle to win the game. Yeah, there’s probably an easier way to do it. But I can’t think of a better way for her and the team. At the end of the day, whether it’s hard or easy, as long as you get the job done, that’s all that matters. Even after that tough loss, they believed they had a chance to come back and win. And they did,” said Coach Coram.
Waldron was 3-4 with a run scored. Cravey was 2-3 with one very important RBI. Mercer and Gourley doubled. Mercer also drove in two. Giddens earned the win with three innings of work. She gave up one hit, no runs, struck out two, and walked one.
The Lady Patriots ended the season with a 26-6 record.