Morgan County softball coach Chad Pigg walked off the field Saturday in Columbus with a smile on his face.
Pigg watched his players storm the field as his team secured an 8-3 victory over top-seed and reigning champion Appling County. The Lady Dogs had accomplished one of their season’s goals: winning a state title.
Like she has done all season and throughout her career at Morgan County, pitcher Ryleigh Hilsman recorded a strikeout for the final out. The junior right-hander got the final Lady Pirate batter out on a rise ball.
Madness ensued, with the dugout emptying onto the playing field and fans cheering from the stands.
“Man, it was a special moment for us,” Pigg said. “Everyone was running and sprinting to form a dog-pile. Time stood still for about half a second because so much went into it. It was a breathtaking moment and kind of made me weak in the knees, you know? I just couldn’t really move. Just so much went into all of it. I know how much work our girls had put in, and the [emotions] came flooding and rushing back all at once.”
The Lady Dogs marched through the Elite Eight tournament without a loss, but they had a flair for the dramatic.
Morgan County almost didn’t make a return to Columbus. The Lady Dogs lost the first game of the Sweet 16 to Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe. They easily won the second contest before a come-from-behind win in game three.
Pigg said the team’s tough regular season schedule and the series against Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe helped prepare his team for Columbus. His players faced some of the best competition in the state this year.
“They’re battle-tested,” Pigg said of his team. “One thing I think is definitely worth mentioning is we had four regular season losses, and all four of those played on Championship Saturday in Columbus. And then our one other loss was during the playoffs, and that was to a really good Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe pitcher.”
Playing “loose,” Morgan County defeated Rockmart 2-1 in the opening game in exciting fashion.
The Lady Dogs trailed 1-0 entering the bottom of the seventh inning as Kymora Smith’s triple scored Jayden Daniel, tying it up. The senior then walked it off a few moments later, taking home plate safely on a wild pitch.
Next, Morgan County beat Union County 11-1 to secure a spot in the next round of the double-elimination tournament. The Lady Dogs then narrowly defeated Appling County, staying at the top of the winner’s bracket. They took the lead in the sixth inning and won 3-2, sending them to the state championship round.
The Lady Pirates defeated Pike County to face Morgan County again. They had to beat the Lady Dogs twice to win a second consecutive state title, but Hilsman was on her game, recording 10 strikeouts in the 8-3 win.
Hilsman batted 2-for-3 at the plate on Saturday and helped spark a seven-run offensive rally in the fourth inning. The Lady Dogs never looked back as they completed their quest to win the program’s fourth state title.
“With her effort, what she did in the circle, that’s something that you got to have [to win],” Pigg said of Hilsman. “She absolutely just showed tremendous guts, overcoming some things. She pitched her tail off.”
In 2023, Morgan County went 1-2 in Columbus and was eliminated by Friday. This year, the Lady Dogs made it to Saturday unscathed, won the state championship, and returned to Madison with lots to brag about.
“It was a different mentality this year because they had seen it, and they’d been there,” Pigg said. “They knew what they needed to do during the offseason, and they did it.”