King William High School came into Championship game of the Virginia High School League Saturday looking to turn their title run into Back 2 Back Crowns 👑. Central – Woodstock of Shenandoah County was looking to fulfill its quest to add their name to list of programs that have placed hardware in their schools 🏫 trophy 🏆case.

The photo 📷 above is the Coaches and Captains meeting prior to first pitch. The next two pics took place in the top of the seventh inning with Central holding what felt like an insurmountable 4-1 lead.

Central built their lead in the exact manner they had all season. Pitching, defense and amazing Small Ball execution. The Falcons were once again perfect at the plate in regards to Sacrifice Bunts(5 for 5) and each one played a part in building the three run lead.

King William has been playing Softball at a very high level for well over a decade and the Cavaliers were not going to go down without a fight.

Trailing by 3 runs and down to their final three outs, the Cavaliers made their final charge. Number nine hitter, Chloe Harley struck out to lead off  and then leadoff hitter Olivia Unser reached base after being hit by a pitch. Junior Addison Kirby popped out to the Central Shortstop  Vanessa Gordon and suddenly just one out remained.

Senior Payton Lewis extended the inning with a single and Junior Jillian Smith loaded the bases after also being struck by a pitch. Now the tying run was on first base and the winning run was entering the batters box.

Adalyn Mills is just a Freshman on the Cavaliers team and now she was facing the biggest at bat of her young career. Mills step in the box, dug in and calmly ripped a shot to deep left field. While the line drive headed towards the corner it brought back memories of the Robert Redford movie, The Natural.

Would the shot clear the fence to give the Cavs a 5-4 lead or rattle around in the corner for a bases clearing Triple to tie the game up ?  When the ball finally landed it was safely in the glove of Hadley Witherow. Someone who just saw the final score of 4-1 might not appreciate just how great of a Championship game had taken place.

Kudos to Central – Woodstock for bringing home the trophy 🏆 to Exit 283 and Thank You 🙏 to King William for representing Class 2 in the manner they have for the past decade plus.

King William 001 000 0 – 1 4 3

Central-Wdst 120 010 X – 4 3 0

Note 📝 – Unofficial recording of the Hits and Errors.