The Calvin High School Lady Cougars rallied late in the game for a 2-1 comeback win over Claiborne Christian in Sulphur to clinch their seventh Class C state championship in the Sunday, May 4, final.

The win capped a “really good season” for the players, the school and the community, assistant coach Brian Griffin told the Journal.  “We overcame injuries but were a 9-seed going into the tournament.  We hadn’t even won district and they called us a ‘Cinderella’ team. But we never believed that.  We had the right material.”

Griffin explained that especially in the second half of the season, the Lady Cougars had depended on their hitting.  En route to the finals, they had to defeat the No. 1 ranked team, Family Christian of Baton Rouge…and did so.  In the semifinals, they put 6 runs on the board but that was enough to eke out a 6-5 win over Summerfield.

In the Championship game, however, Calvin faced the best pitching they had come up against all season.  Calvin had actually faced this pitcher during the Quitman Tournament back in March and had hit her for 10 runs.  However their hitting didn’t show up on Sunday.  But the team’s determination did show, said Griffin, with “tremendous defense, 15 strikeouts of our own and only one error that didn’t harm us.”

Even so, as the Lady Cougars came to bat in the 6th inning, they trailed 0-1.  “Coach Cody Martin changed our strategy and we went to ‘small ball,’ or bunting.  We were able to tie up the game 1-1 in that inning.”

Calvin continue that strategy into the 7th and final inning of the game.  A popup put a runner on base and batters bunted her home for their 2-1 lead.  In the bottom of the 7th, CHS pitching struck out the side and that 2-1 lead turned into a 2-1 win and another State Championship for the Ladies.