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The Lady Raider softball team completed their run in the 4A District 9 Tournament as champions, defeating Lincoln County 4-0 on Thursday night in Manchester.

Before the Championship Game was played, Lincoln County had to get past the Columbia Central Lady Lions in the loser’s bracket finals. The Lady Falcons would do just that, breaking a 4-4 tie through the first four innings by scoring five combined runs in the final two frames for a 9-4 win, setting up a rematch with Coffee County. The two teams have now met each other in the District Championship Game five times in the last eight seasons.

Originally slated for a 7 p.m. start, the Championship Game was pushed back by an hour due to weather conditions.

Once underway, the game was the usual defensive battle that these two teams have grown accustomed to.

The Lady Falcons would get the game’s first hit in the top of the first inning with a lead off single by Hana Corder, but that would be the only semblance of offense for Lincoln County over the first four innings.

On the home side, points were still tough to come by, but certainly not impossible. In the bottom of the second inning, the Lady Raiders broke through with a score by Bailey Hale, who reached home plate on a ground out by Haleigh Skipper. An earlier bunt attempt by Maggie Montgomery caused some trouble for the Lady Falcon defense, which in turn allowed Hale to move into scoring position.

Coffee County kept a tight grip on their 1-0 lead through the next three and a half innings, fueled not only by another fantastic performance by starting pitcher Lily Norman, but also their performance on defense as a whole.

Lincoln County was just as stout in the middle three innings, but in eerily similar fashion to their last meeting with Coffee County, they would be the ones to crack under pressure in the waning moments.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Lady Raider offense rose to the occasion. Savannah Cooper led things off with a ground ball triple, then Paisley Campbell stepped up and hit a single to left field, which brought Cooper home to make the score 2-0.

Raelyn Wainwright, courtesy runner for Campbell, tacked on another score when the Lady Falcons walked Haleigh Skipper with the bases loaded, and Jalyn Moran made the score 4-0 after a fly ball single by Taylor McBride.

Lincoln County rattled off three singles in the top of the seventh, but Norman and the Lady Raider defense kept the Lady Falcons off the board to claim the District Championship Crown.

It was the second time in as many days that the Lady Raiders have beaten Lincoln County, a far cry from how the two regular season meetings between the two teams played out.

“We knew we could beat them, we just had a bit of a mental block when we played them in the regular season,” said Lady Raider coach Brandon McWhorter. “With the regular season, we usually take those games to get better and improve, but when the District Tournament starts, that is when the season truly begins. These girls have worked hard all season, and it showed in this tournament. We took care of what we needed all week.”

In postseason awards, Paisley Campbell, Kyndal Bolden, Jalyn Moran, Savannah Cooper and Lily Norman were named to the All-District Team with Campbell taking MVP honors and Bolden winning Newcomer of the Year.

LIN: 000 000 0 – 0 5 1

COF: 010 003 x – 4 6 0

H: Jalyn Moran 2, Savannah Cooper 1, Paisley Campbell 1, Lily Norman 1, Taylor McBride 1.

RBI: Haleigh Skipper 2(12), Paisley Campbell 1(40), Taylor McBride 1(9).

3B: Savannah Cooper 1(2)

SB: Jalyn Moran 1(7)

Starter: Lily Norman (7.0IP, 5H, 10SO)

Up Next: The Lady Raiders advance to the 4A Region 5 Tournament, where they will host Nolensville on Monday, May 12 at 6:30 p.m.