CHANTILLY — Lee-Davis coach Jackie Davis didn’t want her softball program to be like the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, a team that made the Super Bowl four times and lost all four.

Lee-Davis played in the Virginia High School League Group AAA state softball tournament championship game for the second consecutive year Saturday. A year ago, the Confederates lost.

Long before Davis or anyone associated with the current L-D program came along, the Confederates were state runners-up from 1982-84.

The 0-for-4 now is 1- for-5. Lee-Davis turned to small ball in Saturday’s final, scratching out a run in the fifth inning to experience the euphoria of winning a state championship with a 1-0 victory over Battlefield of Haymarket. Pitcher Kelly Heinz, a junior named the Gatorade state player of the year, was magnificent with 16 strikeouts.

She allowed five hits, and it was the defense behind her that ensured the Confederates would raise the championship trophy.

“We were doing everything we could to get a run across,” said Taylor Melton, who opened the fifth with a bunt single. “It’s something we’ve been working on all year and we knew it was going to pay off no matter what. She (Davis) put enough trust in me to get it down. ... I did what I had to do and did it for the team.”

Lee-Davis (26-1) became the third Hanover County school to win a state softball crown in the 2000s, following Atlee in 2002 and Hanover in 2006. The Confederates are the eighth Central Region team to win the title.

The other five are Douglas Freeman (1980), J.R. Tucker (1981), Midlothian (1994), Manchester (1996) and Varina (1997). Lee-Davis, Hanover, Midlothian, Mills Godwin, Varina, At-lee and Thomas Jefferson have been runners-up.

“We achieved every goal we set. For us to do that was huge, especially for the seniors coming back here a second time,” said Melton, a senior. “I can’t give you an amount of words about how I feel right now.”

The Confederates had runners in scoring position in the second, third and fourth innings but couldn’t get a run across.

Battlefield shortstop Shannon Black threw out Ryleigh Hawker, who had two hits, at home in the fourth after Meredith Holmes’ hard hopper bounced off the third baseman and directly to Black.

“It was frustrating,” Melton said of the missed chances, “but you have to keep fighting in games like this.”
Lacie Madison followed Melton’s bunt single in the fifth with a bunt single of her own. Haleigh Cottrell moved up the runners with a sacrifice bunt.
After a strikeout, Heinz hit a bouncer to Black, who fielded the ball cleanly, tried to tag Madison and then saw she couldn’t make a play at third.
Black then looked to first and saw she couldn’t make a play on Heinz, who was credited with an RBI when Melton scored.

Battlefield, 25-2 and holder of a 24-game winning streak, threatened in the top of the sixth. Tyler Welch, one of 12 seniors on the Bobcats’ roster, singled. Bailey Liddle dropped a bunt down the third-base line.

Madison threw to second baseman Hawker at first to get Liddle. Hawker, a freshman, turned and threw to Melton at second, who tagged out Welch, who had overrun the bag.

“I saw her get a big lead once she went around (the bag), and I was hoping Ryleigh saw it,” Melton said. “When she hummed it to me, I turned and knew exactly where (Welch) was, and I knew we were going to get the double play.”

The Bobcats had one more chance in the seventh when Kimmy Brady led off with a single. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third when Miranda Kemp’s chopper bounced over Heinz’s glove and Melton chose not to make a throw.

Heinz struck out Erika McLaughlin and Kat Palmer, and the celebration began.

“It’s been a long season, but I’m going to miss it. I’m not ready for it to end,” Davis said. “I love every one of them to death, and I’m going to miss them.”

Arthur Utley is a staff writer for the Richmond Times Dispatch.