WINDSOR
After being down 6-2, many Southampton High School softball fans had written off Thursday’s TriRivers District game at Windsor High School.

The girls had different ideas. After a run had already scored in the top of the fifth, Southampton’s Katelyn Cobb came up to the plate with the bases loaded. She took the first pitch and shot it to left field, earning 3 RBIs while also tying things up at six runs apiece.

The next batter, Allie Holt, drew a walk. With runners on first and third, the Lady Dukes’ freshman pitcher, E.J. Bankson, and the Lady Indians’ senior first baseman, Bryona Knight, faced off with the game on the line. Getting ahead on a 1 and 2 count, Bankson hit her spot and got out of trouble.

The game was still tied, though. Neither team were able to get anything going during the next two half-innings, but Windsor’s Tori Holmes got one of her three hits with a single through the infield with one out already recorded in the bottom of the sixth. The Dukes gambled, having Morgan Whitley bunt Holmes over, but it paid off. Two batters later, Senior Kelsey Searcy hit a double to knock in Holmes, and freshman Alyssa Funai knocked in two to seal it during the next at bat with a single up the middle.

For Bankson, it was three up and three down in the top of the seventh. The freshman had 10 strikeouts.

Windsor coach Sean Wade said the win was a little bittersweet, as he coaches most of the Lady Indians on the Southampton Storm AAU softball team.

“I told all of the girls that I had about 30 daughters out here today,” he said. “I have so much respect for them, but someone has to win and someone has to lose.”

Wade said he thought the game could have gone either way, and he gave the edge for his club due to the home field advantage and having the late at bats.

“All the credit in the world to those girls over there,” he said. “They don’t know when to quit. They just kept fighting back and tied it up, and they could have went ahead. We just made a big pitch and got out of it.”

Southampton coach Amy Davis said that her team was young and still improving.

“It’s tough to play so well and not come out with a victory,” she said about the night’s effort. “Both teams played well, but when it was all said and done, they did a little bit more to get the job done offensively.”

Skyler Bagnell led the Indians at the plate with a 3 for 4 day.

Searcy joined teammate Holmes in the three-hit club. Holmes was 3 for 3, having drawn a walk, and Searcy was 3 for 4.

After spring break, Windsor (3-0) will host Park View Lady Dragons on Tuesday, April 14, while the Indians (0-3) will travel on the same day to play the Brunswick Lady Bulldogs. Both games start at 4:30 p.m.