Quitman sweats out final inning for title

FAYETTEVILLE — It wasn’t easy for Quitman Coach Stephanie Davis to watch the final inning, but her Lady Bulldogs secured the final out needed Monday at Bogle Park.

Quitman slammed the door shut for a 3-2 victory against Poyen when sophomore pitcher Kassie Rhodes recorded a strikeout with the bases loaded in the championship game of the Class 2A softball state tournament.

“You can’t describe this feeling, and I’m speechless,” Davis said. “I’m pretty certain I wanted to pass out in that last inning. But they found a way. They have more grit than any group I’ve been around. It’s hard to find that.”

Poyen was down 3-1 entering the bottom of the seventh inning. Kindi Puckett, a senior, scored to cut the lead to 3-2. Rhodes settled down after that to not allow another run.

Rhodes, who entered the game in the fifth inning, had to pitch out of trouble in the sixth as well. She left the bases loaded in the that frame, too, as Quitman earned backto-back state titles.

“She has a lot of experience on the mound and has a lot of composure,” Davis said of Rhodes. “She faces top-level hitters year around. It was just another game, another at-bat and another pitch.”

Poyen (28-2) left two runners on base in the initial inning against Quitman senior starting pitcher Marley Johnson. The Lady Indians then left seven runners on in the final three frames against Rhodes.

“The girls laid it on the line, and we were right where we wanted to be,” Poyen Coach Blue Kesterson said. “We had the bases loaded and one of our better hitters up. It just wasn’t our day.”

Poyen struck first in the fourth inning when senior Alana Pumphrey hit a double. Faith Diehl, a pinch runner for Pumphrey, scored on an RBI double from junior Kyla Puckett to make it 1-0.

Quitman (29-5) responded in the top of the fifth inning. Jadie Langston, a freshman, and Lillie Webb, a junior, started the frame with back- to-back singles. Langston then came home on a hardhit error from junior Gracie Smith. Webb then scored on a sacrifice fly by Rhodes to take a 2-1 lead.

Quitman scored a much-needed run in the seventh inning to push the edge to 3-1 before entering the bottom of the frame. Autumn Johnson reached with a two-out double and scored on an RBI single by Smith.

Poyen lost in the state finals a season ago to Quitman 7-4, but Poyen beat Quitman 3-2 in extra innings at the regional final earlier in this year’s postseason play.