Heritage grabs Region 6-AAAA softball crown

It’s a formula that has worked pretty well for the Heritage Generals all season long - get out to a lead and let sophomore pitcher Rachel Gibson handle the rest.

It worked again last Wednesday night, twice in fact, as top- seeded Heritage claimed the Region 6- AAAA title by sweeping second- seeded Lafayette, 4- 2 and 6- 0, in their best- of- three series at Heritage.

“I’m so proud of these girls,” head coach Tanner Moore said. “We’ve talked about it all season and we’ve started peaking at the right time. I was really proud of the fact that we had a 10-day window since our last game and we still came out swinging and came out with energy. That’s tough to do after you haven’t played for 10 days, but the girls really responded.”

Gibson threw all 14 innings in the doubleheader, giving up seven hits, walking seven batters and hitting a couple, but she also finished with 22 strikeouts - 14 in the deciding game - and came up with several big punch-outs when she needed them the most.

Heritage (18-6) scored two runs in the bottom of the first and third innings in the opener. Riley Kokinda had an RBI- single and Katie Proctor an RBI- triple in the first, while an error and a walk set the table for Reagan Armour’s two-run double in the third.

Lafayette ( 14- 8) loaded the bases in the top of the fifth and got a run in as Shelby Adkins was hit with a two-out pitch, but Gibson would come back for a big strikeout to quell the threat. The Lady Ramblers would get their final run with two outs in the top of the seventh as Carlee Corbin took home on a double steal, but that would be the last run of the game for the visitors.

Armour finished with two hits for Heritage, while Marquila Howell and Nicky Yancy had the only hits of the game for Lafayette. Ashton Stalling gave up three earned runs on five hits and four walks with one strikeout in six innings, but took the loss for the Lady Ramblers.

In Game 2, Heritage - playing as visiting team on the scoreboard - got out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first. After the first run scored on an error, Armour, Gibson and Mallory Lowe came through with RBIS. Gibson would add a run-scoring single in the third and Lowe would deliver an RBI- single in the top of the fifth to cap the scoring.

Despite the 6- 0 advantage, the last three innings would be interesting as Lafayette continued to find ways to get runners on base.