Plainview routs Opp, Caps Historic Season with 3A State Title
By Glendon Poe
T-J Sports Editor
Weather delays.
Change of venue.
It didn’t matter — Plainview in four; that’s four straight wins en route to the softball program’s second AHSAA Class 3A state championship, capped by a 14-4 run-rule victory against Opp at Jacksonville State University’s Jana McGinnis Field last Thursday night.
“This is the best thing. This is our goal,” said Plainview senior and tournament MVP Mia Tidmore. “This has been our goal for so many years and we did it twice, we got two of them.”
That’s two 3A state championships in the last three years for the Bears, who finished their historic 2023 campaign with an astounding 47-1 record. The one loss came against 5A’s Springville on April 22.
Tidmore batted 3 for 4 with two doubles, an RBI and four runs scored. She and fellow senior Lily Boswell were selected to the all-tournament team, along with teammate Abby Williams and Opp’s Amaya Womack, Allie Wisner and Reese Cauley.
“They worked their rear ends off,” Bears head coach Jeff Brooks said of his players. “They came to practice every day. I asked a lot of them, and they gave me a lot. They just worked hard.”
Due to rain and lightning delaying the start of the 3A final at Oxford’s Choccolocco Park, a decision was made to move the contest to JSU around 6:30 p.m. After a brief delay at JSU, the game between Plainview and Opp began around 7:45 p.m.
Opp grabbed an early lead when Caroline Courson launched a two-run home run across the left-field fence in the top of the first inning.
But Plainview responded quickly in the bottom half of the frame and gained a 4-2 advantage. Tidmore scored on a Chloe Hatch single to second base, then Graidin Haas doubled to center field, bringing home three runners before the Bobcats recorded a third out.
Williams doubled on a fly ball to left field, allowing Tidmore to score from second base and extend the Bears’ advantage to 5-2 with no outs in play in the bottom of the second frame. Williams then scored on a Hatch grounder to left to make it a four-run game.
After Womack scored on a single to pull Opp within 6-3 in the top of the third, Plainview blew the game open with a five-run half-inning. Faith Odom smacked a leadoff homer across right field in the bottom of the third and Tidmore plated another run on an error to make it an 8-3 game. Hatch singled home Hannah Regula before Hatch reached home plate on a Mallory Lindsey pop fly, giving the Bears a commanding 11-3 lead.
The Bobcats scratched across a run in the top of the fifth to narrow the gap to 13-4 before Tidmore smacked a line-drive double that plated Ali Price for the walk-off win by way of the 10-run mercy rule.
“We came out and hit it pretty good, and were able to cap the lines at the right times and get some runners on bases,” Brooks said. “Timely hits are what put us where we needed to be.”
Hatch was 3 for 3, scoring two runs and driving in three more for Plainview. Williams plated three runs behind a double on two hits and an RBI, Regula doubled and scored two runs and Haas drove in three runs with a double.
“I’m just really happy with our performance,” said Boswell, who struck out four, walked three and allowed eight hits in the complete-game state title win. “We really gave it our all this year and I’m just very proud of us.”
How they got here:
Plainview secured a spot in the winners’ bracket final with a 4-2 triumph against Opp on Wednesday.
The Bears grabbed a 4-2 advantage in the second inning and held off Opp’s comeback attempt.
Boswell delivered a complete-game win in the circle. She struck out 10, walked one and surrendered five hits in 112 total pitches.
At the plate for Plainview, Williams bashed a triple and drove in two runs, and Tidmore doubled on two hits. Regula doubled with an RBI and Haas tripled and plated a run.
Womack drove in a run on a double for the Bobcats, Courson doubled and Taylor Adams contributed an RBI. Cauley took the pitching loss; she struck out nine, walked three and allowed no runs on two hits across 5 1/3 innings.
In Plainview’s 8-0 first-round win against Ashford on Wednesday, Boswell and Shianne Parker combined to pitch the shutout. Boswell earned the win in six innings of work, giving up three hits, walking one and striking out eight. Parker allowed no hits and sat two batters in relief.
Tidmore collected three hits, including two doubles, and scored three runs for the Bears. Regula tripled on two hits with an RBI and two runs scored, Williams drove in two runs on a triple and Hatch doubled with an RBI and a run scored, while Boswell added a double. Haas tallied two RBIs on two hits and Jada Hampton plated a run.
Raeleigh Jordan scattered two hits for Ashford. Savannah Money threw four innings of the loss, striking out five, walking one and giving up five runs on six hits.
Regula mashed a solo home run and collected four hits in Plainview’s 10-3 victory against Beulah in its second winners’ bracket game Wednesday.
Williams’ sacrifice fly scored Tidmore and propelled the Bears into a 3-0 advantage in the top of the third inning, before Hatch blasted a three-run homer across left field three at-bats later to double the margin.
With Plainview leading 8-3 in the top of the fourth frame, Regula swatted a screaming fly ball across the left-field fence to make it 9-3.
Odom singled on a ground ball to left field in the sixth inning, allowing Regula to score the game’s final margin from third base.
Tidmore scattered three hits, including a triple, with an RBI and two runs scored for the Bears. Haas tripled with a run scored and Lindsey drove in a run on two hits.
In addition to her stellar performance at the plate, Hatch also delivered a complete-game win in the pitching circle. She allowed eight hits, struck out four and walked none.
For Beulah, Brandy Phillips took the loss in 2 2/3 innings, giving up eight runs on nine hits with two strikeouts and no walks. Abrianna Green allowed seven hits, walked two and sat one.
Libby Buchanan, Savanna Clements and Phillips each collected two hits and Kyleigh Morgan recorded a double.
