It may have been the simplest play of Alyssa Faircloth’s career, but she executed it with the precision of turning a 3-0 count into an inning-ending strikeout.
Following consecutive groundouts to open the final Inning of the state finals, the Holy Spirit Catholic junior’s pitch was hit off an 0-1 count, but she fielded the ball immediately and purposely trotted to first base where she handed the final out to Marianna Sellers.
No throw. No error. Just a simple hand-off to seal a complete-game win and the first title for the Holy Spirit softball team.
The top-ranked Saints got immaculate pitching from Faircloth and timely defensive plays from their outfield en route to a 3-1 victory over No. 4 Skyline in today’s Class 1A championship at Oxford’s Choccolocco Park.
“We took offense to what somebody said in the predictions,” Holy Spirit coach Jeff Laubenthal said. “I don’t remember who it was or do I care because it was great for us. They said Brantley was more of a complete team than us and the girls took offense to that. We’re a complete team – we can play, we can hit, we can field. They answered that challenge, it really got us going.”
Holy Spirit (39-10) wins its first softball title in school history after exiting the last two tournaments in anti-climactic fashion.
“The experience last year is what really got us to where we thought we could do it,” Laubenthal said. “More importantly, in the area tournament, when we dropped the first game and had to win three games in a row, that’s when we knew we could do it.”
The Saints got off to a hot start, sitting down the Skyline side to open the game and taking a 1-0 lead after the first inning. Faircloth led off the bottom half of the Inning with a single, stealing second and advancing to third on a throwing error, and was brought home on an RBI groundout from Elaina Russell.
Holy Spirit left five runners stranded the next three innings, but added to its lead in the fifth.
Claire Laubenthal led off the inning by being hit by a pitch and a walk issued on the next at-bat advanced the senior catcher to third. Russell earned her second RBI of the game on the next at-bat, plating Laubenthal with a single. The Saints capped their scoring in the same Inning, adding a final run on an RBI sacrifice fly from Charli Kyser to score Olivia Watkins.
“Coach told us in the dugout to just get her in and do my job,” Russell said. “That’s all I wanted to do. I love playing for this team and love winning for this team.”
After allowing the Vikings to cut into the lead in the top half of the sixth, Holy Spirit was sat down in order on three consecutive strikeouts from reliever Olivia Treece.
Skyline (31-18) scored its only run of the game on an RBI single from Brinlee Potts, scoring Jayla Ross, and hit into three straight groundouts to end its final opportunity in the game.
“It really started at the beginning of the season,” Faircloth said. “Coach took us to a place called True Vine and we thought we were going in for fun family team bonding and ended up doing some tough military stuff. They really brought us together and brought us here.”
Star of the game: Faircloth. The junior pitcher had an impeccable outing on the mound and earned tournament MVP honors with a complete-game effort. She allowed 1 run on 2 hits, amassing 10 strikeouts on the day, and was 1-for-4 at the plate with a lead-off single to open the game. Faircloth also scored Holy Spirit’s first run on an RBI groundout from Russell.
“Honestly, I feel it was an ‘if’ game for me. My team played behind me. I mean, Charli Kyser made multiple plays behind me. I’m in shock. We’ve been doubted so many times and I’m proud to bring this Blue Map back to our school,” she said.
By the numbers: Holy Spirit was bounced in the last two state tournaments and won only a single tourney game before entering this year’s event. The Saints cruised through the first day of competition and closed out the season with a 4-0 record in the Class 1A tournament.
Stat sheet: Holy Spirit – Russell went 1-for-3 with 2 RBIs, scoring Fairclotch on a groundout in the first and Laubenthal on a single in the fifth. Laubenthal had a single in the third and reached base two more times on walks. Watkins scored a run on Kyser’s RBI sac fly in the sixth and Addison Jones and Savannah Osborn each had a single. Watkins and Russell, along with Faircloth, were selected to the Class 1A All-Tournament Team. Skyline – Dacey Allen was tagged with the loss, working 5 complete innings and allowing 3 runs on 5 hits while recording 4 walks and 4 strikeouts. Potts was 1-for-3 with an RBI single, scoring Ross, and Ella Dean had a single in the third inning. Treece, Allen and Potts were named to the Class 1A All-Tournament Team.
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