Members of the Lady Raider softball team celebrating their 2nd place finish in the CTC Tournament on Saturday (Photo provided by Sheila Mukai)
After falling on Friday night to Warren County in the winner’s bracket finals of the CTC Softball Tournament, the Lady Raiders of Coffee County Middle School needed 3 wins on Saturday to claim their 2nd straight conference title. In a scene reminiscent of last season, the Lady Raiders fought and clawed their way back to the championship game before falling to Warren County 10 to 2 on Saturday afternoon.
On Saturday morning, the Lady Raiders opened up with a rematch against Tullahoma as these 2 teams squared off for the 4th time in 11 days. The Lady Raiders jumped out to a 6 to 0 lead only to see the Lady Cats rally in the 5th inning to plate 3 runs. Coffee County quelled the rally with the tying run at the plate to seal the 6 to 3 win. Against the Cats, Ashley Evans was 3 for 3 with 3 runs scored, Gracie Pippenger was 2 for 2 with a double and a sacrifice and Keelie Hillis was 2 for 3 with 2 doubles.
The Tullahoma win set up a rematch with Warren County in which the Lady Raiders needed a win to force an “if” game and a chance at the title. After surrendering a run in the 1st inning, Coffee County got a 3 run rally in the 3rd inning by the bottom of their batting order. Maci Head finished the game with 2 hits in 2 trips to the plate and a run scored to lead Coffee County to the 3 to 2 win. Kyla Craig and Abigail Parker each added a run for the Lady Raiders to set up a winner-take-all championship match.
With one out in the top of the first inning, Gracie Pippenger crushed a solo home run to fill the Lady Raider fans with hope and confidence. Not to be deterred, the regular season champion Lady Pioneers tied the game in the bottom of the first and used a 6 run 4th inning to seal the 12 to 2 win over Coffee County in the 5th conference meeting of the year between these 2 teams. Warren County only lost twice in conference play this season and both losses came at the hands of the Lady Raiders. Evans finished the game going 2 for 3 with a triple and the only other run scored for Coffee County. The Lady Raiders finished the year with a record of 23 and 7.
