May 21—OXFORD — Lawrence County junior Bella Cross said the Red Devils’ softball team wanted to leave a legacy.
Mission accomplished.
The Red Devils ran the gauntlet on Wednesday, winning three straight games including beating Houston Academy twice (6-4, 10-3) to win the Class 5A state championship. It’s the first softball state championship in school history.
“We’ve talked a lot in the past few weeks, talked to people that had been in this position, and we talked about building a legacy,” Cross said. “I truly believe this softball team has left a mark at Lawrence County.”
Lawrence County defeated Springville 2-0 to advance to the state finals and then avenged a previous night loss to Houston Academy by beating the Raiders 6-4 to force a winner-take-all game for the championship,
In the final game the Red Devils dominated, building a 7-0 lead in the first three innings en route to a 10-3 win.
Ellie Stark led the way with three hits and an RBI. Ava Templeton added three hits and Bella Cross had two hits and two RBIs
McKinley McCaghren was the MVP of the state finals. The junior pitched 20 2/3 innings between the three games on Wednesday, allowing nine hits and five runs with 13 strikeouts. She also added five hits and three RBIs.
“My screw-ball was working the best for me today. I just kept them off balance all day,” McCaghren said. “I was getting tired but it’s the state championship, there was no way I was coming out.”
The win was a special moment for first-year head coach Josh Graham. Graham previously the head coach for the Red Devils and made stops at Russellville and Hatton before finding his way back to lead Lawrence County to a 49-10-1 record and its first state championship.
“This is surreal, you can’t describe it,” Graham said. “I’ve coached a lot of teams and this is a special group of girls. They grinded all year long and they earned this.”
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Class 5A
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Lawrence County 6, Houston Academy 4: Lawrence County built a 6-1 lead and held off a late rally to force a winner-take-all game for the state championship.
McKinley McCaghren led the way with three hits and two RBIs. She also got the win in the circle, allowing four hits and two runs with five strikeouts.
Bella Cross and Alivia Terry each added two hits and an RBI.
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Lawrence County 2, Springville 0: McKinley McCaghren pitched a shutout to send the Red Devils to the Class 5A state finals.
She allowed just two hits with three strikeouts
Alivia Terry and Alivia Templeton each had an RBI.
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Class 7A
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Vestavia Hills 4, Austin 3: Austin had a late rally to try and overcome a 4-0 deficit but fell just short, sending the Black Bears to the loser’s bracket.
Arden Breedlove had a two-RBI double, while Kyleigh Gable had a hit and an RBI and Khalilah Mason had two hits.
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Austin 7, Daphne 1: Austin scored six runs in the first inning to cruise to a win in its first game of the state tournament.
Marissa Adams led the way with two hits and two RBIs. Grace Lamb and Evelyn Lamb each added a hit and two RBIs.
— caleb.suggs@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2395. Twitter @CalebSuggs2