COLUMBUS — Throughout much of a warm weekend at the Class AAAAAA state tournament, Collins Hill’s bats were remarkably cold.
But with the weather turning cooler Saturday, those bats heated up when they needed them the most.
After erupting for wins of 8-1 and 14-1 over Chapel Hill and Houston County, the Eagles earned a one-game, winner-take-all rematch with Houston for the state title.
And Sammy Lenahan’s bases-clearing triple ignited a four-run rally in the bottom of the sixth as Collins Hill claimed its second state title — and first since 2005 — with a 4-1 victory at the South Commons Softball Complex.
“We’ve played close games with our pitchers keeping us in it, and our offense seems to find a way,” Eagles coach Billy Dooley said.
“That’s how it’s been all day. We didn’t score but five runs in the first four games. ... (Saturday), our hitters were awesome.”
Not that the pitching wasn’t also outstanding.
Sophomore Kayla Floor (20-2) threw two complete-game victories, giving up just seven hits and one earned run and striking out 11 in 14 innings of work.
Senior Kacey Hawkshead (15-2) gave up just three hits and an earned run with two strikeouts in four innings in the first win over Houston County.
However, the Eagles’ bats were definitely the story Saturday.
First, they erupted for eight runs against Chapel Hill two hits each from Brianna Cason and Mckenzie Halstead, plus a two-run triple from Lenahan.
Then, they pounded out 14 more runs in the first Houston County game, led by a 2-for-4, four-RBI performance from Chelsea Littlejohn, two more hits and three runs from Christian Parham and two more hits and an RBI from Brittany Roley.
But it looked like pitching had regained control after Floor and Houston County’s Jessica Burroughs battled each other for five shutout innings.
Finally, Burroughs helped herself in the top of the sixth with an RBI single to give the Bears a 1-0 lead.
However, with the bases loaded and only one out, Floor fought back to record the next two outs to keep the deficit at just a single run.
She then delivered a challenge to her teammates.
“I tried my best to hold (Houston County) right there,” Floor said. “I told (the team), ‘You need to get your hits, and I’ll take care of the rest.’”
Lenahan held up her end of the bargain after Aerika Miles drew a leadoff walk, Parham slapped an infield single and Randi Rea drew another walk one out later to load the bases.
The senior catcher fell behind in the count, but got a pitch on the outside corner and ripped it into the right-field corner, clearing the bases and vaulting Collins Hill in front 3-1.
“I’ve played in high-pressure games like this before,” Lenahan said.
“I just tried to keep all the outside things out of my head and just focus on the ball.”
A passed ball helped the Eagles pad their lead at 4-1, and Floor fulfilled her pledge to her teammates by setting down Houston County in order in the top of the seventh to seal the victory, and the title.