The Brookeland Lady Cats on Saturday had one goal…. to soar over the Lady Eagles…. to stop the Leak(ey)…. to complete the prowl to State. Okay enough of the puns. Bottom line is, they were one win away from headed to Austin for the 1A State Championship.... and boy did they do it with a 11 to 0 victory to advance to their first ever State Championship appearance!
How did we get here? Well to be honest, the Lady Cats really hadn’t faced anybody that gave them trouble so far in the playoffs. They had skunked both Martinsville and Oakwood 15-0 in the first two rounds, swept Broaddus in 2 games (10-0 and 12-2 respectively) and score wise had their easiest game in the Regional Final with a 18-0 drubbing over Avery.
With a Heat Index of 103 Degrees, Leakey took the field first which meant that Brookeland had the first crack at it to display the high powered offense that had been so explosive in the playo…. Oh…. a 1-2-3 inning…. Well that’s okay, I mean you can’t win in the 1st inning anyways. Leakey felt inspired by that and followed that up with a 1-2-3 inning of their own. (A little too inspired by that but more on that later) End of the 1st Brookeland 0 Leakey 0. To begin the 2nd, the Lady Cats singled but that was undid by a double play to make it 2 outs. The Lady Cats did get 2 runners on in scoring position even with 2 outs but alas the scoring was put on hold as they couldn’t push any across. Leakey, well…. 3 up 3 down. End of the 2nd Brookeland 0 Leakey 0…. Pitchers duel.
Kaelyn Strother got on to start the 3rd and her base running netted her 2 steals as she stood on 3rd base…. The next 2 batters went down on strikes so it was looking like it would be on to the bottom on the 3rd still scoreless… but. Caylee Morgan walked, then Cierra Justice…. then Elisabeth Lundquist…. Everyone gets a walk! Some errors pushed across some more runs as Carlee Justice pushed across another with a RBI single…. Before you knew it, the score was 5-0. Leakey came up looking to cut in to the lead annnnd they went 1-2-3 again….. End of the 3rd Brookeland 5 Leakey 0.
Kaelyn Strother and Paige Powell got on to begin the 4th inning but 2 quick outs looked like nothing was doing and yet again the Cardiac Cats come to life after the 2 outs with a RBI single by Cierra Justice, a 2 RBI triple by Elisabeth Lundquist, a RBI double by Carlee Justice and Lakyn Mott who reached on an error also got a RBI. Walks and RBI’s for all. Leakey came up in the bottom and the 4th and actually was able to end Paige Powell’s perfect game bid with a leadoff single…. Then she struck out the next 3 batters. End of the 4th Brookeland 10 Leakey 0
The Lady Cats cooled off in the 5th as they were only able to bring in 1 run with Caylee Morgan walking then being brought home by Cierra Justice…. It was 11-0 heading into the bottom of the 5th….. 3 outs away from moving onto State. Paige Powell’s only free pass of the night came with 1 out in the 5th…. However a few pitches later the rare baserunner was called out for leaving early. 2 outs…. Powell delivers as it’s a groundball to 3rd…. throws to 1st….. she’s OUT. The Brookeland Lady Cats defeat the Leakey Lady Eagles 11-0 to advance to State! Well deserved if I say so myself! Our very own Scott Loar caught up with Coach Mckenzie Vaughn who was quoted in saying “Paige Powell continues to be dominate in the circle” and “The bottom half of the batting order did their job”. Short and simple… and very true as the Lady Cats have no outscored their playoff opponents 81-2! Dominate and doing their jobs indeed. (Very coach Belichick like with the latter quote there)
Congratulations once again to the Brookeland Lady Cats as they continue their historical run! They will meet either the high powered Hermleigh (24-3) or the defending 1A State Champion Jonesboro (13-10) (who at the time of this writing were split 1-1 in the best of 3 series). That Championship match will be played in Austin next Saturday to declare the 2025 1A State Champion. Of course, we will keep you updated as soon as we know anything about who we are playing as soon as we know right here on KJAS.
A message to the team…. You guys have put together a heckuva season and I think I speak for all of us when I say we are pulling for you and are proud of you. For 2 of you, it’ll be your last High School Softball game…. And yes it’ll be sad win or lose, but I ask to not lose sight of the fact that you are in the State Championship and that’s because of all the hard work you’ve put in through the years. This is a team full of Sophomore’s and they were looking up to you two and they are poised to be a powerhouse for at least the next 2 years. Give it your all and one day when your old and gray you’ll drive by a softball field with young girls playing and think of all the memories of being around your teammates having fun and thinking… I used to do that… and I was pretty good at it. I know I do when I myself go by tennis courts. ( I lost in the Quarterfinals myself and yeah this isn’t necessary but it’s my article so I’ll flex when I want to). Hold your head high and give 110% ladies! We’re all Brookeland this Saturday!
Stats From the Game
Pitching
#6 Paige Powell 5 IP 1H 1BB 10K 0ER
Hitting
#6 Paige Powell 1-4 1SB 1R
#00 RaLea Bennett 0-4
#3 Caylee Morgan 0-2 2BB 2R 3SB
#9 Cierra Justice 3-3 2RBI BB 2R
#7 Elisabeth Lundquist 1-2 2RBI BB 2R
#4 Carlee Justice 3-3 2RBI SB 2R
#21 Lakyn Mott 1-2 BB ROE
#11 Laney Shepherd 1-3
#5 Kaelyn Strother 2-3 2SB 2R
https://www.kjas.com/sports/local_sports/article_4e4d6f68-a344-4727-9203-28804485ddcc.html