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The Lady Raiders are one win away from a District Championship after defeating top seed Lincoln County 8-1 in the winner’s bracket final on Wednesday evening.

In the regular season, Lincoln County was the only district team to best Coffee County, winning both meetings 4-2 and 3-1 respectively.

For four whole innings, it looked as if Lincoln County was going to squeak out another win in the winner’s bracket final, but an offensive explosion by the Lady Raiders in the top of the fifth inning changed the script.

The home team Lady Falcons struck first, scoring with Elizabeth Lyon on a fly out by Hana Corder in the bottom of the third inning.

Lincoln County held on tight to their 1-0 lead through the end of the fourth, however the Lady Raiders were ready to answer in the top of the fifth and what an answer it was.

The Lady Falcons walked three of the Lady Raiders’ first four batters: Haleigh Skipper, Taylor McBride and Ella Arnold, the latter of which was intentionally walked. Up next to the plate was Savannah Cooper, who then proceeded to hit a ground ball to send in Skipper and McBride to give Coffee County a 2-1 lead.

Lincoln County’s pitching core was now under extreme pressure, and with the next two batters, they completely cracked. Paisley Campbell and Jalyn Moran were each hit by a pitch with Arnold scoring on a wild pitch in between.

Lady Raider pitcher Lily Norman then stepped up to the plate and rattled off a two-run single and Maggie Montgomery capped off the six-run inning for Coffee County with a one-run single.

Montgomery later added to the Lady Raider lead with a two-run ground ball single in the top of the seventh inning, and Coffee County held on for a 8-1 win.

Norman was nearly perfect in the circle for Coffee County, pitching all seven innings, allowing only one hit, one walk and throwing 12 strikeouts for her 16th win of the season.

COF: 000 060 2 – 8 5 1

LIN: 001 000 0 – 1 1 3

H: Ella Arnold 1, Paisley Campbell 1, Jalyn Moran 1, Lily Norman 1, Kyndal Bolden 1.

RBI: Maggie Montgomery 3(18), Savannah Cooper 2(14), Lily Norman 2(19).

Starter: Lily Norman (7.0IP, 1H, 1R, 1BB, 12SO)

Up Next: The 4A District 9 Tournament will make its way back to Manchester on Thursday, May 8. Lincoln County will play Columbia Central in the loser’s bracket final at 5 p.m. The winner of that game will play Coffee County at 6 p.m. If Coffee County wins, they will be crowned the 4A District 9 Champions, but if they lose, an additional game will be played on Friday, May 9 at 6 p.m.