Region 1-1A Softball: Jay continues to excel in May, pounding Freeport to advance to region final

It's the month of May, which means its business as usual for the defending Class 1A softball champions.

Led by an offense that made its opponent pay for its mistakes and a pitcher who struggled a bit before getting into a groove, Jay had little resistance in advancing to its third consecutive regional final.

The Royals cruised past Freeport 10-0 in six innings on Thursday during a Region 1-1A semifinal from Jay High School. Luci Borders sent the fans home happy when her RBI groundout scored Layna Lowry from third base to close the game.

"It's great, I'm anxious," Jay senior Caitlyn Gavin said. "I'm just ready to go. I can play right now if I wanted to."

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The Royals are the top seed in Region 1-1A while Freeport was the fourth seed. Jay will host a familiar foe in the regional final, as No. 3 Northview will come to town at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Chiefs exploded late offensively in 17-6 semifinal win at No. 2 Holmes County.

Claiming their fifth-straight victory to improve their record to 15-11 this season, the Royals scored in every inning except the second. They led 2-0 after two frames before breaking the game open with three runs in each of the next two innings.

With two outs and two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the third, Kaylee Gilbreath hit a grounder that scooted through the legs of Bulldogs shortstop Isabella Holden and into left field to make it 4-0. One batter later, Brooklyn Sorrells laced a rope down the left-field line to plate Gilbreath from second base.

Gavin got in on the fun during the fourth. With two on and one out, the University of South Alabama commit lifted a fly ball into the gap in right-center field to bring home Brett Watson and Kassidy Nevels. Gavin eventually scored on a Morgan Barrow fielder's choice.

That was more than enough run support for Jenna Toups, who after allowing runners in scoring position in the first two frames, outmatched hitters the rest of way. She gave up two hits and two walks with four strikeouts through six scoreless innings.

Toups was aided by a defense that played nearly perfect behind her. Sorrells took away a hit with a diving catch at first base in the fifth before Gavin turned a beautiful 4-3 double play in the sixth.

"She's not a strikeout pitcher, she's a movement pitcher and she gets a lot of groundballs," Jay head coach Brian Watson said of Toups. "When she's on, it's not about strikeouts. It's about those one- or two-pitch at-bats and weak groundballs to our infielders. And we love our defense. We work hard on it, we're as good as anybody up the middle and we tell her to use that. There's no sense in walking anybody when you got a defense like that behind you."

Here are three takeaways from Thursday's game:

Toups too tough to tame

The very first pitch the Royals' ace threw resulted in a double off the bat of Mayson Feller. Then, after losing a 12-pitch battle against No. 9 hitter Heidi Mixon, Toups stared at a bases-loaded jam in the second.

But in what has been a microcosm of her season, the senior pitched her way out of it and only got stronger.

Toups got the next three batters out following the Feller double. Later, she fanned Feller to escape the second-inning jam. And as Jay extended its cushion, the pitcher felt more at ease.

"I think a lot of times when my team starts scoring, it's like, 'O.K., it's not me versus (my opponent), but my whole team is behind me' and I can trust them, their defense, their offense and everything else," Toups said.

From there, she was lights out, facing the minimum from the third through the sixth. The senior retired 10 batters in a row at one point.

"I found a pitch sequence and after going through their lineup one time, I figured out what they l liked and what they didn't like," Toups said.

Thrusted into the No. 1 spot in the rotation, the senior said she didn't feel much pressure trying to follow last year's state championship team and viewed the role as a "blessing," although the results at the beginning of the season weren't particularly promising.

Toups allowed seven runs (six earned) on eight hits and three walks through 1 2/3 innings in her first appearance. She followed that with losses in three of her next four starts.

Since then, the senior has been one of the area's best performers, relinquishing two earned runs in a game just twice. She currently owns a 1.62 ERA.

"I like to pitch under pressure knowing that it's now or never, do or die, and if we lose, we're done," Toups said. "I'd rather be put in pressure spots than the beginning of the season where it's relaxed."

'Make them throw it to you bat'

The Royals collected eight hits, but it was Freeport's nine walks and numerous wild pitches that was as much the story.

With the exception of the fifth, Jay drew at least one base-on-balls in every inning it scored. According to Gavin, the team's collective approaching goes back to its previous game where the Royals drew eight walks during the District 1-1A championship against Northview.

"We really just went in with mindset of make them throw you a strike," she said. "We haven't seen a whole lot of pitchers that really dominated the strike zone. We went in thinking 'make them throw it to your bat,' and I think it's worked out well for us."

Brett Watson and Carleigh Baker each walked three times.

'It never gets old'

As Jay's 2022 state championship banner hung on the fence in center field, two central figures from that title run were in the house to support another push to state.

Each graduating last year, Alayna Lowery, PNJ's Player of the Year a season ago, and former No. 1 pitcher Mattie Cochran sat in the stands on Thursday.

"I see a lot alumni in bleachers, but with those two from last year, it's great," Brian Watson said. "They all know they're all welcomed back here at any time and it's good seeing them. We have moved on, but at the same time, they're our standard right there."

Jay moves on to a fourth game with Northview this season. After needing extra innings to defeat the Chiefs 4-3 on Feb. 24, the Royals have earned 10-0 and 13-3 wins in the next two meetings, respectively.

Another win would push Jay to a third-straight trip to state.

"It never gets old. It's just as exciting every time," Gavin said. "It's the same, I love it."

Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached at (850) 503-3828, on Twitter @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com. 

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Defending Class 1A softball champ Jay Royals advance to Region 1-1A Final