Last-inning explosion blasts Hartselle to state softball tourney
May 8—FLORENCE — Hartselle head softball coach Anna Hall was understandably overcome with emotion.
In what was one of the most improbable comebacks one could ever expect to see in a high school sporting event, Hartselle overcame a five-run deficit in the final inning, defeating Athens 17-16 on KJ Prater's walk-off RBI single.
With the win, Hartselle earned the Class 6A, North Regional championship and punched its ticket to the state softball tournament for the first time since 2019.
"I honestly don't know what to say," Hall said. "I'm so excited, and I'm so proud. I know a lot of coaches say that, but this was just unbelievable."
Hartselle pulled itself from certain defeat not once, but twice in Tuesday's game. The Tigers trailed 8-2 in the second inning and came back to take the lead before falling behind again by five runs in the final inning.
"One of our assistant coaches always says, 'If we have outs, then we have life," Hall said "The group just doesn't know how to quit. They're always going to fight."
After surrendering six runs in the top of the seventh inning to fall behind 16-11, a comeback seemed unlikely, but Hartselle quickly loaded the bases with no outs, which brought Kaelyn Jones to the plate. After three straight balls, Jones took two strikes and faced a full count. On the next pitch, she sent a ball over the right field fence for a grand slam.
"I thought I was going to walk, and then she threw two strikes, so then I was just focusing on getting a base hit," Jones said. "I wasn't trying to do anything extra, so I certainly wasn't expecting a grand slam."
Jones said seeing the ball go over the fence gave her a surreal feeling.
"At first I couldn't even tell if it went over, but after I realized, it was pretty exciting," Jones said.
Hartselle tied the game at 16-16 on a bases-loaded walk, which brought Prater to the plate. After falling behind 0-2, Prater delivered an RBI single for the game-winning run.
As Prater rounded first base and turned around, she was mauled by her teammates racing to her to celebrate.
"That was so much joy turning around to see that," Prater said. "It's a feeling I'll never forget."
Jones led Hartselle with four hits and four RBIs. Katie Gillott and Brityan Godfrey each had two hits and three RBIs, while Gillott also scored three runs.
Morgan Stiles, Carly Ennis and Charlie Barnes all had two hits and two RBIs for Athens.
With the win, Hartselle is headed back to the 6A state tournament for the first time in five years. After three straight years of coming up just short, the feeling of finally getting over the hump was extra sweet.
"I'm so thankful that these girls are finally getting to go to state and experience the things that I've experienced as a player and a coach," Hall said. "This is what the whole season was about."
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— caleb.suggs@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2395. Twitter @CalebSuggs2
