Caledonia High School senior Gracie McCleskey wanted to make the most of her senior campaign.
Mission accomplished.
The Caledonia High fast-pitch softball team saw its best season since 2005 end Saturday night with an 8-3 loss to Kosciusko in the deciding game of the best-of-three Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 4A North State championship series.
“When you are a senior you just want it to be your best year,” McCleskey said. “We felt like this could become our year. A lot of peopled doubted us, but we just kept believing. I am not sure everybody on our team believed we could have this success. We pulled together and made it a special season.”
Caledonia finished 19-15. The Lady Confederates won three series to reach the North State finals after losing in the third round the previous two seasons. Caledonia beat Kosciusko 8-2 at home. At Kosciusko, Caledonia lost 9-1 in Game 2. In the deciding game, Caledonia built a 3-0 lead before Kosciusko tied it in the fourth inning and broke it open with five runs in the sixth.
After the victory at home, junior Hope Harbin said the squad “got hot at the right time.”
“Our bats really picked things up at the right time,” Harbin said. “In the playoffs, we were at hot as anybody. It’s like we were a different team. With each series we won, we played with a little more confidence.”
Caledonia swept Tishomingo County, Cleveland, and West Lauderdale in the first three rounds. A seven-game winning streak ended in the first loss to Kosciusko.
The victories against West Lauderdale changed the team’s mind-set. The Lady Confederates lost 2-1 and 3-2 to their region rivals in the regular season.
“Beating West Lauderdale gave us a lot of confidence,” Caledonia freshman pitcher Carlee Dale said. “Even though they had beaten us in the regular season, both losses were by a run, so we have a lot of confidence. We knew if we played the perfect game, we could beat them. After we won that series, we felt like we could play for the championship.”
Performing well in a revenge setting helped set Caledonia up nicely for the Kosciusko series. The reigning Class 4A, Region 4 champions beat Caledonia 12-0 and 9-0 in the regular season. Playing well against West Lauderdale gave Caledonia, which won back-to-back state titles in 2004 and 2005, a boost prior to the next round.
Scoring six runs in the first two innings Friday also proved huge.
Caledonia started strong with a two-run home run by McCleskey in the first. In the second, Harbin had a two-run double and Maddy Suggs had a two-run single.
“We did a good job of scoring runs early in games throughout the playoffs,” Caledonia coach Kevin Stewart said. “I think that is really big, especially when you haven’t beat a particular team before. You just make more of the plays when you are playing with a lead. I am really proud of how we competed. You can tell this team was locked in for the playoffs.”
Caledonia knocked Kosciusko ace Katie Lawrence from the game. Lawrence returned with a masterful performance Saturday.
The Lady Confederates were equally tough in the circle, as Dale emerged as a standout despite only being a freshman.
“It has been exciting pitching for this team,” Dale said. “As the season went along, the coaches got more confidence in me and I got to throw more. The seniors have done a great job of leading the team, and we have been trying to win for them. We wanted to make their last year special.”
The early run support in the opener was more than enough for Dale, who was dominant. The tables turned Saturday, as Kosciusko sprinted to a 7-0 advantage. In the third game, a two-run double by Dale and a groundball out helped Caledonia build a 3-0 advantage. Kosciusko answered with two two-out hits in a five-run sixth.
In the seventh, Caledonia loaded the bases and had a chance.
“This team really gave it all they had,” Stewart said. “We didn’t have a lot of star players. We had players that played well together. When the playoffs started, everybody started over at 0-0. Our kids embraced that opportunity.”
NOTE: Suggs’ name was incorrectly spelled in a cutline in Sunday’s paper.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.