GPS’s Corey Swafford, No. 8, throws against a Baylor hitter during Spring Fling in Murfreesboro, Tenn., on Friday.
Staff Photo by Jake Daniels, Chattanooga Times Free PressMURFREESBORO, Tenn. – It reads “Bruisers” across the front of their jerseys, so the athletes wearing them at the TSSAA state softball tournament must think they’re supposed to win the championship.
They’ve won the last four and their young team will get the chance at another today at 11 a.m. EDT after pulling out a 6-5 victory over Chattanooga rival Baylor in the bottom of the seventh inning Friday in the first game of the Division II-AA final.
It will be a rematch with Baylor (32-8) at Starplex No. 3. The Lady Red Raiders had won the previous three meetings this season.
Stephanie George put the Bruisers in the 5-5 situation they were in, then bailed them out of it with a two-out single to win it. With a two-run lead, GPS’s freshman third baseman snagged a line drive with two aboard in the top of the seventh, but she anxiously tried to double the runner off second and sailed her throw to the right-center-field fence, allowing both to score.
“I got excited on the throw,” George said. “I knew as soon as I let it go.”