The Clarksville softball team has fulfilled its mission of becoming state champions. They defeated top-seeded Wayne 4-1 in Friday’s Class 1A Championship Game, as aired on 99 The Wave.
After building momentum with walk-off wins in the quarterfinal and semifinal, the Indians put together possibly their most impressive win of the season. They held a high-powered Falcon offense to just one run, and remained unfazed despite a stretch of 11 straight batters retired after jumping ahead early with two runs each in the first and second innings. Head Coach Katie Burman.
“This team has had the most chemistry out of any team that I’ve ever coached,” Burman says. “And they’re just the most fun team I’ve ever coached. They’re always hyping each other up. They’re always singing. They’re always just loose. Like before the game, I was like, do you want ground balls? And they wanted to play hacky sack. And they still came out and won. So I think they’re just a fun, relaxed group.”
After recording two strikeouts combined in the first two tournament games, junior pitcher Sydney Lovrien was dominant with nine strikeouts of Wayne batters, including the game-winner in the bottom of the seventh.
Lovrien on how she put together one of her best games on the biggest stage.
“I don’t know how I dealt with it, but I just tried to play free and not think about the stress,” Lovrien says. “Crazy to imagine that everything we’ve worked for in the off season and this whole season is paying off, and we’re here now and I think it’s just crazy.”
Offensively, Lovrien led with two hits and drove in two runs.
Senior catcher Emmalee Manwarren says it was a title years in the making.
“It’s crazy, we were sitting here five years ago watching this game as seventh graders, sixth graders, and fourth graders, I don’t know,” Manwarren says. “And it’s just crazy that it’s us now and we’ve been working so hard for it, like our whole high school career, and it’s amazing.”
Claire Lodge was named the all-tournament team captain. Lovrien, Manwarren and Cate Lodge were also selected.
It was the second title in program history, and they finished the season at 30-4.
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