When the pitch was halfway to home plate, you didn’t need a crystal ball to know what was about to happen.
It was headed straight to the wheelhouse of Dale’s record-setting slugger Maddie Conley and, just as she had done more than 60 times this season, she hit it high, hard and far, driving the pitch well over the scoreboard for a walkoff grand slam and a fifth straight slow pitch state championship for the Lady Pirates.
The homer was an exclamation point to end a 24-12 game and a dominating three game run.
Dale won all three of its games in the state tournament by run-rule and beat arch rivals Latta and Silo in the semifinals and finals.
“I thought we were the best team,” said Dale coach Andy Powell. “But sometimes in this game it doesn’t always work out that way. But we played our best today and proved we were the best team.
“We beat our two biggest rivals and beat them handily, and it’s so gratifying for this team to get another state championship.”