Glenwood wins AISA state softball championship

Slideshow from the AISA State Softball Tournament

MONTGOMERY — A year ago, Glenwood was a spectator for the AISA Class AAA state tournament finals at Lagoon Park.

Saturday, after starter Ollivia McLemore clinched the school’s first fast-pitch title with a strikeout looking, all eyes were on the Gators.

Glenwood beat Lee-Scott, 8-5, in the tournament final, besting its rival for the second time in four hours and winning its first softball championship of any kind since a slow-pitch title in the early 1990s.

Senior Britt Wilkerson said it was a moment seven years in the making.

“Last year it was just our goal to get here, because that would be the furthest we’ve ever come,” said Wilkerson, who was named tournament MVP. “This year, we knew how good we were and knew what we could do.

“It’s just sweet as it can be right now.”

After shutting out Lee-Scott, 4-0, in the semifinals, the No. 4 Gators (36-8) gave up their first run of the tournament and fell behind 1-0 in the first inning of the finals, when Kelbi Burgering’s RBI single knocked in Jessie Washington.

Glenwood came right back with three runs of its own off Washington in the bottom, with Wilkerson and Ollivia McLemore each hitting RBI singles.

The Gators tacked on five more over the next three innings off Washington — who was pitching in her third consecutive game and fifth of the tournament — to build an 8-1 lead after four.

“We were going to see if we could fight from behind. When the pressure is on do you step up and play or do you cower away?”
Glenwood coach Dusty Perdue said. “And I thought we stepped up really well.”

No. 5 Lee-Scott (22-12) came back with two in the sixth, then mounted a two-out rally in its last at-bat to make things interesting.

Katie Cotney started things with a double, and Callie Rawlinson followed with a single.

Shortstop Bree Nowlin probably had a chance to end the game on a short chopper up the middle, but she tried to get the force at second and Rawlinson slid in safe, scoring Cotney.

McLemore said she asked Nowlin to kindly throw to first the next time that happened.

“(Nowlin) was like, ‘I want you to get the last out, though,’” McLemore said. “And I was like, ‘OK.’”

After Katie Poole singled to knock in another run and bring the tying run to the plate, McLemore obliged by grooving a fastball over the outside corner that sent the umpire’s arm into the air and sent the Gators’ fans and players spilling onto the field.

Though it did take them three tries to get Perdue with the water cooler.

“This is what you set out to do 40-something games ago,” Perdue said. “We finished runner-up in three different tournaments, but if you come in second at every one of them or not place at all just to finish first in this one, that’s what you want to do.”

Lee-Scott came from behind to beat No. 8 Kingwood Christian, 6-2, to reach the finals and would have had to beat Glenwood twice in a row to win the title.

Warriors coach Chris George said the second-place finish was the best in school history. Lee-Scott won 10 of its final 13 games after a 12-9 start.

“They’re a bunch of battlers,” George said about his team. “People that never quit and kept working hard, kept getting better.”

Leslie Kelly was 3-for-3 with two runs for the Gators, McLemore was 2-for-4 with two runs, Wilkerson was 2-for-4 with three RBI and Victoria Smith had a hit and three runs.

Rawlinson was 2-for-4 with a run for Lee-Scott, Washington was 1-for-4 with two runs and an RBI and Burgering was 2-for-3 with two RBI.

Glenwood outscored its competition 32-5 in its four tournament games.

“I’ve got a special group of girls,” Perdue said. “Just a good group of players that played well together and brought it all together for one weekend. I was real proud of the way they played.”

dmorrison@oanow.com | 737-2658