This Team is Special

The Lady Wolverines Defeated Powerhouse Union County to Win the First Softball Region Championship Since 2018

By: Garrett Mitchell, Staff Writer
garrett@thewoodrufftimes.com

Woodruff junior pitcher Kaitlyn Jackson stared at the scoreboard in disbelief as she jogged off the field after the top of the second inning in Woodruff Softball’s tiebreaker game against Union County for the region championship.

Staked to a 1-0 lead in the home half of the first inning, Jackson, who had retired the first three Yellow Jacket hitters in order, suddenly found herself and her team trailing 5-1 against South Carolina high school softball’s greatest 3A dynastic powerhouse.

Union County dinked and dunked their way to five second-inning runs without the benefit of any particularly solid hits. All the momentum resided in the third base dugout at Dorman High School, the neutral site of the tiebreaker game, and with the Wolverines and Jackson reeling, Woodruff needed a spark.

But this team has made a living of never saying die. On this night, they would live out that mantra once more.

The Lady Wolverines patiently waited out Yellow Jackets’ freshman pitcher Maci Sprouse, coaxing a pair of walks, and then began to put bats on balls. All told the first five hitters reached for Woodruff in the bottom of the third. Five runs were across before Union County recorded an out. And when the smoke cleared, a seven-run frame had catapulted Woodruff in front 8-5.

They would never trail again.

Jackson finally slammed the door on Union County in the seventh and, with it, the fourth region championship in the 27-year history of Woodruff High School softball.

“I had been struggling,” admitted Jackson. “The second time we played Union, I wasn’t at my best. We had a lot of rainy days (before the tiebreaker game), and I spent that time mentally preparing and knowing I’m a good pitcher. I’m good at what I do. I made small adjustments in-game, and we came out on top.”

It did not appear through most of the conference slate that Woodruff would need to win a tiebreaker game to claim the region championship. The Lady Wolverines breezed past Emerald, Clinton, and Chester twice each and defeated Union County 13-3 in their first meeting.

The Yellow Jackets rebounded, however, and defeated Woodruff on their home field 7-4 to set up the third and decisive meeting between the two 3A contenders. The Lady Wolverines were not about to let a second chance slip through their gloves.

“We were just so excited for this game,” said senior first baseman Kylie Hitchcock. “We worked so hard for it all season, and Kaitlyn pitched amazingly. We were here to back her up, and when (Union County) had that big inning, we knew we had to have a bigger one. It just rolled from there.”

After their seven-run second inning, Woodruff added two more runs in the third to increase their lead to 10-5. The offensive onslaught was aided by a plethora of Yellow Jacket errors. It was a disastrous defensive game for Union County, who committed eight errors in total and four in the second inning alone. Good teams capitalize on mistakes, and that is exactly what the Lady Wolverines did.

“The biggest mentality we have coming into every single game is to put pressure on the pitcher and on our opponents’ defense because that is going to wear down the other team,” said senior second baseman and lead-off hitter Bre Mock. “If your pitcher is out of it then your whole team is off front to back. You could see that with Union (County).”

The Yellow Jackets trimmed the Wolverines’ lead to 10-6, with Woodruff getting that run back in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 11-6. Union County mounted their last great challenge in the top of the sixth inning.

With runners on first and second with two away and a run already across, and with the score 11-7, feared freshman catcher Carolina Davis came up for the Yellow Jackets. Jackson worked Davis to a 2-2 count but put a fastball too close to the plate, and Davis dropped a mighty swing on the pitch, hitting a deep drive to left field.

In that moment, on a team with three terrific senior leaders, it was the youngest player on the field who saved the day. Seventh-grade left fielder Alexis Mock tracked the ball to the wall, leapt at the fence and hauled in a miraculous catch to turn Union County away and preserve the four-run lead.

“We had a lot better defensive plays than the last time we played Union County,” said senior catcher Cassie Worthy. “We were all wanting to win and all wanting to back (Jackson) up.”

Jackson had to hold her breath until Mock reeled in Davis’ long fly ball but knew the youngster could make the play.

“I had a similar conversation with Alexis the inning before when she had a similar play and didn’t catch the ball, and I said, hey, here’s your adjustment, here’s what you have to do, and you will be fine. She went and made a huge play.”

Union County added a single run in the seventh but was never seriously threatened again. Jackson finished the game with six strikeouts, including striking out five of six batters during a stretch between the third and fourth innings.

In the aftermath of such an emotional game, the seniors all explained what winning the region championship in their final season meant to them.

“We want to win,” explained Hitchcock. “We are a team that loves winning, and we will do anything we can to do it.”

Said Worthy, “There are no words to describe it. This is the best feeling ever. I have been dreaming about winning region, and I’m glad we were able to do it my senior year because that makes it even more special.”

Mock added that being able to come back to the Woodruff High softball field years from now and see her team’s region championship banner hanging on the fence will be a special feeling that she will always cherish.

“I’m going to be able to look back and say that, yea, we led this team well,” she said. “As seniors, we never let this team give up. We believe that as long as we are up in the dugout, you can’t stop us.”

The Wolverines’ head coach Will Lanford summed up the 2023 Woodruff High softball team best after the game. After a rousing speech with his team gathered in centerfield, Lanford took a moment to reflect on how much his team has accomplished since the start of the season.

“We played a very difficult schedule at the beginning of the year to get us ready for region,” he said. “We played some of the best teams in the state, so we knew that if we could play with those teams and get better, then good things could happen in the region.”

Lanford added, “This team believed in themselves, in the coaching staff, and they did a heck of a job getting better as the season went on. This team is special.”