It took two days to do it, but the Durant Lady Cougars are district champions.
A rain delay and power outage put a damper on things Thursday night in the 8A-7 championship. After a short rain delay, the two left field light posts went out, followed by another downpour, eventually postponing the game to Friday afternoon with Durant leading 4-0 in the bottom of the third.
“We had a delay at state last year, but it was nothing like this where we had to come back the next day,” said head coach Matt Carter. “This situation was okay, because we were able to come back and kind of start over, where a normal rain delay can throw you off.”
It also certainly helped that Durant put four runs on the scoreboard Thursday before the game was postponed.
“It was weird because we started the game in the bottom of the third with two outs,” said pitcher Paige Davis, who threw both days. “It was a little offsetting, honestly, but I just tried to keep the mentality that we were continuing a game and not starting a new one.”
Davis got her team on the board first on Thursday with an RBI single before Shannon Bell belted a solo home run over the left field wall in the second.
“That was a blast,” Carter said of Bell’s homer. “She’s been battling an injury, so that was good to see out of her.”
Madi Taylor had an RBI single in the second inning after a short rain delay and another run scored on a throwing error to give the Lady Cougars the 4-0 going into Friday.
On Friday, Payton Lewis knocked in Bell on and RBI double in the fourth to give her team some extra cushion.
Durant will now host East Lake High School April 25 in the region quarterfinals.
