It’s a long way to the top, right? Well, it wasn’t for the Summit High School softball team. The Lady Spartans took the short route to the District 11-AAA tournament title, zipping through the week-long tourney in undefeated fashion and capturing the championship with a dramatic 3-2 victory over top-seeded Dickson County on Friday night at Centennial. Haley Montgomery had two hits and drove in two runs, Morgan Woodside made a series of pivotal plays at shortstop, and Summit pitchers Lily Kate Richards and Elena Escobar combined for a strong effort in the circle to lead the No. 2-seeded Lady Spartans to the win and their second 11-AAA title in the past three years. The victory — which allowed Summit to avoid having to return to the park on Saturday for the “if-necessary” contest against the Lady Cougars — was a fitting end to a strong week of softball from the Lady Spartans, who posted wins over Ravenwood and Spring Hill in the first two rounds, and then defeated Dickson County twice to cap off their 4-0 run through the tourney. “Staying in the winner’s bracket the whole time feels awesome,” said Summit coach Jenny Stevenson. “I mean, I don’t even feel tired right now. When I came to the park today, I felt refreshed and ready to go. It makes a big difference, and it gives you a little bit more confidence, when you do it that way.” Summit will now head into regionals as a No. 1 seed and will open the tournament at home next week. Dickson County, which defeated Brentwood, 11-1, in the elimination-round finals earlier on Friday, is also headed to the regional round, although the Lady Cougars will be on the road. Woodside, the Summit shortstop who played the role of catalyst throughout the tournament, agreed that staying in the upper half of the bracket helped the Lady Spartans in multiple ways. “Going undefeated in the tournament is huge because you are able to stay out of those (elimination-game) situations,” said Woodside. “It definitely played a role.” Summit’s two aces, Richards and Escobar, were sharp throughout the tourney, and they finished off their week by combining for another gem on Friday. Richards opened in the circle, and worked 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits with six strikeouts to earn the win. Escobar took the save by recording the final four outs. She inherited a sticky situation in the top of the sixth, when Dickson County had the tying run at third and the go-ahead run at second. But Escobar needed just one pitch to escape the jam, inducing a ground ball to end the inning. Escobar then tossed a 1-2-3 frame in the top of the seventh to end it. Seconds later, the Summit players were all hugs and high-fives. “It’s just so much fun to be able to celebrate like this,” said Montgomery, the Summit right fielder. “We made a couple of errors tonight, but it all kind of came together for us. We had a couple of big hits when we needed them.” Montgomery, in fact, had one of the biggest. She delivered a two-run single — with two outs and two strikes — in the bottom of the second inning to give Summit an early 2-0 lead and huge boost of momentum. “It feels good (to contribute) because I have struggled at times this year,” said Montgomery. “So, getting a hit when we needed one — that’s always fun.” Dickson County’s Kate Peters took the hard-luck loss. She went the distance and was charged with three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts. Summit has now advanced to the tournament finals in three consecutive seasons in which the tournament was played. The Lady Spartans finished as the 11-AAA runners up in 2018, then won the tourney for the first time in program history in 2019. There was no tournament last year, when the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Stevenson said the cancelation of last season, coupled with the added hardships the players dealt with this year, made the tournament title all the more significant. “This means so much for us,” she said. “You know, this year has been really hard. I’ve watched this team have to overcome so many things — and to win this game tonight, and to celebrate a championship, it’s really special.” Friday’s game, as would be expected in a championship setting, had plenty of drama — right from the get-go. Dickson County had a golden scoring chance in the top of the first inning, when the Lady Cougars used a walk, a base hit and a Summit error to put runners at second and third with no outs. But Richards bore down in a big way, recording three straight strikeouts against the heart of the Dickson County lineup. An inning later, Montgomery delivered her clutch hit, giving Summit a 2-0 lead. Dickson County threatened again in the third inning, putting two runners in scoring position after another Summit error and a base hit. But the threat ended when Woodside made a terrific play behind the bag at second base, gobbling up a hotly-hit ground ball and then gunning a throw to first to end the inning. “Morgan’s play was huge,” said Stevenson. “When she got back to the dugout, I told her — you just saved two runs. If that ball gets to the grass, it’s a totally different ballgame.” Woodside said she had several thoughts racing through her mind as she made the play. “I just kind of read it off the bat, and I said to myself, I have to get to this ball,” she said. “I knew we just couldn’t let them score. We didn’t want to (open the door) for them to come back.” Summit extended its lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth, when Aldyn Mathis led off with a double, and came around to score on an RBI single by Claudette Runk. Dickson County, though, wasn’t done. The Lady Cougars got one run back on Annabelle Ellis’ home run leading off the sixth, and then added an unearned run later in the inning to trim Summit’s lead to 3-2. But Dickson County ultimately left two runners stranded in the sixth, and Summit held on for the victory. Sundberg and Montgomery led Summit’s offense with two hits each, and Corbin reached base twice (walk, hit-by-pitch). Mathis and Woodside each had a double to account for Summit’s only two extra-base hits of the game.

Summit 3, Dickson County 2, District 11-AAA Championship 

DCHS 000 002 0 — 2 4 1

SHS 020 010 x — 3 7 3

WP — Richards. LP — Peters. S — Escobar. 

DCHS – Hunt 0-3, Petty 1-4, Ellis 2-4 (RBI), Peters 0-2, No. 9 0-3, Shelton 0-3, Procter 0-2, Hoskins 0-1, Wilson 0-2, Russell 1-3.

SHS – O’Reilly 0-4, Woodside 1-3, Easley 0-3, Sundberg 2-3, Mathis 1-3, Corbin 0-1, Runk 1-3 (RBI), Montgomery 2-3 (2 RBIs), Beach 0-2.

2B — Woodside, Sundberg. HR — Ellis.

Source:  Williamson Herald