The FMS Lady Rockets were in the catbird seat Saturday night at the Big South Conference Tournament in Chapel Hill, needing just one win versus Spring Hill to claim back-to-back titles, but the Lady Generals spoiled the fun, beating Forrest (18-3) twice to steal the hardware.

"It was a tough loss," said FMS head coach Bunky Elmore. "I hurt for the girls because they have worked so hard. They did everything we asked of them and they never gave up. In the last game when we were down they still had fight in them to the very end. It just showed what kind of heart they have and what Forrest softball is made of."

To the finals

Forrest cruised to the championship round, beating E.A. Cox 13-3 Friday night before besting LMS 8-3 in a winners' bracket game Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, Spring Hill had to run through the losers' bracket gauntlet after falling to Cornersville Friday night.

The Lady Generals came back Saturday with a 7-2 win over the Lady Bulldogs and 11-1 over LMS later in the day to advance to the championship round where Forrest needed just one more win to retain the title.

The Lady Generals came from behind for a 6-4 win in game one over FMS and followed that with another dramatic come-back title-clinching 13-11 slugfest victory as midnight struck at the Field of Dreams in Chapel Hill.

All-Tournament

Eighth graders Lainey Mays, Kyleah Hengesbach, and Samantha King, plus seventh grader Jordan Yelensky were named to the All-Tournament Team for Forrest. "The eighth graders are a very athletic bunch and we will miss them a lot, but they have bright softball futures," said Elmore. "I look forward to watching them play when they move up to the high school level. I will be glad to see Taylor Patin fully recuperated and playing again. I missed not having her in the lineup."

Yelensky had the only home run for Forrest in the tournament, coming in game one versus the Lady Generals, while Spring Hill's Shelby Seacrest blasted a pair of long knocks in the title game.

LMS cruised to a first round 15-1 win over Columbia Academy.

County rivals meet

Forrest handed the Tigerettes their first loss of the tournament on Saturday as the Lady Rockets jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before taking the five-run win over their intra-county rival.

Earlier in the day, LMS run-ruled the Cornersville Lady Bulldogs 16-6 behind a strong pitching performance by Halle Chapman and a 14-hit barrage provided by the Tigerettes' offense.

The Lady Generals got revenge for the Friday night loss to the Lady Bulldogs, ending Cornersville's season in the next game 7-2. "I am going to sum up the whole season," said CMS head Coach Eric Crabtree. "We are a roller coaster team, we have high points, we have low points, but we just need to learn to level the playing field off and be consistent. I am happy with the future of the program; we just have to learn to be a lot more consistent team."

Lady Bulldog stars

Kirsten Young and Mikaela King were named to the All-Tournament squad for Cornersville.

The Tigerettes and Spring Hill met in the losers' bracket final and the Lady Generals banged out 10 hits for the run-rule win. "We didn't do as well as would have liked to do in the tournament," said LMS head coach Lee Perryman. "I thought we were the better team, but today we weren't. We are not a tournament team because we are not very deep."

Chapman, the workhorse in the circle for LMS all season was selected to the All-Tournament squad, along with fellow seventh grader Sydne Solomon.

LMS standouts

"Halle did great all year, she is kind of one of those overlooked players," said Perryman. "She has been a necessity and we could not have done any of the things we did without her. We have nine kids coming back, so I look forward to next year and I know my other kids that are leaving will do well in high school."