For the second time in three seasons, George County is headed to the State Championship!

The softball diamond was the place to be on Saturday as Hancok hosts George County for game two of the South State Championship. The Lady Rebels up one after 3-2 win on Thursday. 

Much like game one, this was a pitchers duel. Hancock ace Teegan Dewitt and George County Junior Addison Davis were going toe to toe on the mound, striking out batters and producing shutout innings with the help of their strong defense.

This wouldn’t change until the top of the fourth inning. Junior Aryana Dixon steps up to the plate and slaps one hard to the third baseman and uses those legs to her advantage and it’s an infield single by Dixon for the Rebels! Wanting to keep that momentum alive in Jordyn Bradley, she drives the first pitch she sees right between 3rd and short and into left field. George County with runners at 1st and 2nd no outs. You know her and you love her. It’s Blakely Slay up to bat now, and it’s an excuse me check swing perfectly placed between pitcher and first base. The ball is dropped and Aryana Dixon loves any excuse to show off her speed. It’s yet another RBI for Slay in this series and George County strikes first 1-0. 

Dewitt would strike out the next batter, but Rebels still have two on, but check out what happens next. It’s a hard hit ball by Davis and it’s caught by Abby Carver but that’s not all, she throws it all the way from rigth field to home plate and she’s out of there! The Hawks get themselves out of jam with an inning ending double play.

The game would continue and so would the stellar pitching. Three more scoreless innings later and this would be the most memorable moment, a hard hit bouncer to Paisley Pipkins the throws it across the diamond and stretching for it is Braylee Bishop and she’s out of there! The George County Lady Rebels are headed back to the State Championship for the second time in three years after defeating Hancock in a tough 1-0 game two. 

“This is what we’ve been working for and there was no doubt we were going to do it. I have full confidence in my teammates,” said junior shortstop Blakely Slay. “A lot of people were trying to give me praise the other night and even today, but it’s my team. I wouldn’t have been able to hit a double if my teammate wasn’t going to get on and if my pitchers didn’t kill it on the mound. It’s a team, and I’m playing for them and I’m playing for the glory of God.”

“We’ve all been working for this since we were little. It’s so exciting and we’ve been working so hard as a team. I.N.A.M., like Blakely said ‘It’s not about me’, that’s been our motto all year long, so it’s such a big deal for all of us and we’re so excited,” said junior pitcher Addison Davis. “We’ve been working on this since last year when we lost at South State. We knew we were going to get back because we were the group that did it. My ninth grade year, we were the group that got it, so we knew we were going to pull this out again. That’s been our goal since we’ve won it the year before that.”

“Two years ago we played for a State Championship and we won a State Championship, and it was these girls as ninth and tenth graders and some 8th graders, so I don’t expect the moment to be too big for them,” said Head Coach Anna Grace Cooler. “We’ve got to prepare for Neshoba Central now and that’s what we’ll do starting tomorrow. We’ll enjoy this today, but tomorrow we’ll prepare.”

Hats off to the Hawks for an incredible season, and congratulations to George County! We’ll see you in Hattiesburg!