In what may be this sport’s last championship, Creekview claims title

Freshman Makinley Foster’s diving catch in left field in the seventh inning with two outs and the game-tying and go-head runs on base preserved Creekview’s victory in the slow-pitch softball championship game, but it also marked the end of an era on the Georgia High School Association’s athletic calendar.

Creekview held off county rival Cherokee 8-7 in the final of the eight-team, double-elimination tournament Thursday at Twin Creeks Softball Complex in Woodstock to win its second state title in three years. The Grizzlies have won two slow-pitch and two fast-pitch state titles in the past three seasons.

This was the final state championship game, at least in the foreseeable future, in the sport, which was reclassified by the GHSA from a fully sanctioned championship activity to an invitational activity because the number of participating schools dropped below the required minimum of 32 for the third consecutive season.

There were 26 teams that played the sport this season, 19 of which reached the playoffs.

“We probably will not,” Creekview fast-pitch and slow-pitch coach Jennifer Maloney said when asked if her school would field a slow-pitch team next year. “A lot of these girls play travel softball for fast-pitch, so they’ll just move on and focus in on that. But I’m glad we were able to do this for the last one.”

Creekview fell behind 3-0 in the first inning against Cherokee but took its first lead at 4-3 on a two-run home run by Nicole Gooden in the third inning. Gooden was 3-for-3 with three runs scored. Kaitlyn Bleisath’s three-run homer in the fifth inning gave the Grizzlies an 8-4 lead.

Creekview outscored its opponents 60-34 in its four-game run through the tournament, including a 25-16 victory over Cherokee in the winners’ bracket final Thursday morning. Cherokee bounced back and eliminated defending champion Richmond Hill 8-5 in the losers’ bracket to reach the championship game.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said Creekview senior Kailyn Hamby, one of two girls on the team who did not play fast-pitch. “I joined it for fun, and that’s exactly what I got. I gained a lot of extra friendships from it, so I definitely enjoyed it. I know a lot of teams don’t (have slow-pitch teams), but it’s a really fun sport for anyone that wants to play or anyone that wants extra practice.”

Hamby was a first-team all-state player on Creekview’s state championship basketball team this season. She will play basketball at Brenau University in the fall.

This won’t be the first time that slow-pitch softball has taken a break. It became a championship sport in 1981 but was discontinued after the 2008 season, then returned in 2017. Creekview and Haralson County won three championships each since the restart.

“It absolutely was disappointing,” Richmond Hill coach Tiffany Gray said of the sport losing championship status. “And it’s such a shame because I don’t think a lot of programs understand how valuable this is. A lot of them just think, ‘It’s just slow-pitch, it’s whatever,’ but for the development of your athletes — you’re throwing every day, you’re catching every day, you’re hitting every day, you’re with the girls. So why would you not? But the GHSA is the one that ultimately decides.”

Gray said no decision had been made about whether her school will field a slow-pitch team next season.