Whitwell shortstop Alyssa Coppinger shook a little dirt from her belt after diving for a grounder in the championship game of the Lady Jacket Invitational.
She shook in disgust. She missed making a spectacular play that time.
But the future University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball player recorded eight defensive outs Saturday in Whitwell's 4-0 win over Meigs County.
Coppinger, and teammates all over the diamond, robbed Meigs County of baserunners, which helped allow Whitwell coach Derrin Easterly to drive his sedan back to school with the first-place plaque inside.
"They made three great plays, so what do you do? Tip your hat to them," said Meigs County coach Jeff Davis, whose team defeated Silverdale Baptist 6-4 to reach the title game. "You don't see that very often. They took a lot from us."
Coppinger started the game with a triple, then scored on Hailey Andregg's single. Andregg found herself in a pickle between first and second, but she stayed in the baseline long enough for Carly Woods to score. Whitwell led 2-0 before a Meigs County player stepped into the batter's box.
The bottom of the first inning proved to be even more of a harbinger than the top.
Kaylie Moore singled to start the inning for Meigs County. Then Kaley Meadows hit a hot shot to Whitwell second baseman Woods, who fired a throw to Coppinger, who completed the 4-6-3 double play.
Davis said he planned to give Meadows one good swing before asking her to sacrifice. That didn't work out due to Whitwell's incredible defense.
Aubrey Reed, the next Meigs batter, followed with a blast to right field and rounded first base in search of a two-out double. But Whitwell outfielder Becca Muir fired a perfect throw to Coppinger, who applied the tag.
"Those plays got the dugout up," said Whitwell senior Kacee Hedrick, who had two hits and scored in the fifth inning. "Becca is the one we call 'Shop-Vac' because she gets to everything out there."
Whitwell (10-3-1) added a run in the second when freshman Camryn Haag plated Kat Sledge, providing pitcher Raylon Smith with a three-run cushion. With the flair and perfection that Whitwell showed on defense in the first inning, and with another run of support, her confidence level had to be very high.
"The bottom of the first was more important than the top because we make our living on defense," Easterly said. "We set the tone that first inning, and it carried over for the rest of the game.
"There were some outstanding plays made today."
Smith faltered a little in the bottom of third when Meigs County (9-3) had runners on second and first. Meadows hit a hard grounder that seemed destined for left field. But Coppinger dove, snared the ball on the backhand, rose to her knees and threw out the lead runner at third base.
"That was my favorite play," she said. "Defense is very important to me."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.