Southwestern Randolph eyes another state softball title

ASHEBORO — Back in 2024, when the Southwestern Randolph High School girls softball team made its run to the state 2-A championship with a talented group of sophomores playing a huge role, it was more of a surprise than something that was expected.

This season, as seniors, it was expected and the Cougars delivered their seventh regional championship in school history by sweeping Randolph County foe Randleman last week 16-1 in three innings and 11-7 in Game 2 to earn the East Regional 4-A championship with a best-of-three series sweep.

“When we did it in ’24, we just kept winning and it was really a culture shock,” said Kami Dunn, who as a sophomore delivered a game-tying hit in the bottom of the seventh inning in Game 2 of that state championship, a hit that also scored the winning run after a throwing error to the plate. “It was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ Now we expect it and we know we can do it. It still feels great, but not as much as a shock.”

Head coach Toby Strider, who also led that team to the state championship, said he knew this team was special, led by the talented group of seniors.

“These seven seniors, I have coached three of them since they were five years old,” Strider said. 

“Five of them since the sixth grade. It’s emotional. It’s a great group. The Lord has blessed us so much. We’re going to play for a state championship.”

SWR, which was seeded third in the East, will battle fourth-seeded West Stanly, the winner of the West Region, in a two-out-of-three series for the state 4-A title at UNCG beginning Friday at 5 p.m. 

Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. with a third game, if necessary, to be played later that day. 

The Cougars will attempt to add a sixth state championship in softball after capturing titles in 2001, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2024.

“It’s unbelievable,” senior shortstop Maddie Strider said of a return trip to the state championship series. “Both feelings, you can’t describe. The first time we did it, we were in total shock.

“We have worked so hard for this. We just fight so we can play another day with each other. That’s what we’ve been saying. Fight for another game with each other.”

Katelyn West — who along with outfielder Bristol Marine, transferred in from Uwharrie Charter Academy this season and played huge roles — was a perfect 4-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs in Game 2 of the Randleman series last Wednesday night. “It feels amazing, I am so excited to be a part of this team,” she said.

Alyssa Harris has also played a huge role in the Cougars’ success over the past four years.

“The beginning of the season, we were winning, it started with a bang,” Harris said of the Cougars’ 15 wins in their first 16 games. “Then we lost two games and we had to bounce back. You can’t let one or two bad games affect how the rest of your season goes. We had to refocus, take one game at a time and stay positive.”

That’s the philosophy the Cougars have taken all the way through the playoffs as well. SWR, which received a first-round bye, rolled past No. 14 North Lenoir 9-3, topped No. 6 Roanoke Rapids 9-1, eliminated the second seed in Central Davidson 4-1 and then swept the top-seeded Tigers.

In Game 1, West was the winning pitcher, giving up one run and two hits with one walk and two strikeouts. The Cougars scored nine runs in the top of the first and added seven more in the third. Harris recorded her 100th career hit with a two-run single in the first and she added a three-run homer in a 3-for-3 performance at the plate with five RBIs. Chloe Eudy, who played a much bigger role in the Game 2 win than expected, had two hits and a pair of runs scored. Strider had three RBIs and Dunn scored twice and had two RBIs. 

In Game 2 at SWR, Kinzie Ivey had a two-run single in the top of the first for the Tigers, but the Cougars responded with four in the first and four in the second for an 8-2 lead.

Randleman cut its deficit to 8-7 with a five-run fourth, but Eudy came in and tossed 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief and West added her two-run blast in the sixth. Nauttica Parrish, Strider and Harris had two hits each.

Kaylee Philips had a double, two runs scored and two RBIs for the Tigers, while Ivey had two hits and three RBIs. Kaylie St. John had a pair of hits and Addyson Dees scored twice.

“It’s tough when you have a team like this,” RHS interim coach Josh Ashby said after the Tigers ended another spectacular season at 25-4, a year after advancing to a regional championship. “This is going to be one that hurts for a while. They found the fight. There just wasn’t enough innings.”

Eudy wasn’t even supposed to be on the mound after the Cougars rolled to the win in Game 1 in just three innings.

“I wasn’t planning on using Chloe in relief,” Strider said. “Kate was supposed to start Game 1 and Chloe Game 2, but Kate threw 30-some pitches in the first game so we came right back to that. I was going to use Alyssa to close, but she had a rash break out and was in no shape to pitch. I can’t say enough about the job Kate and Chloe did. Chloe came in and pitched her tail off.”

Even when the Tigers scored five times in the fourth to cut their deficit to 8-7 in Game 2, the SWR players said they didn’t panic.

“It didn’t make us, like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ ” Dunn said. “We all believe in each other and have each other’s backs. We all play for each other and scrap and scrap and scrap and it eventually turns into a lot of runs like you saw tonight and last night.”

Maddie Strider agreed. 

“They got a few runs, we had to stay positive,” she said. “We had to flush all the negatives out. We knew we were still good. We had to have a positive mindset and not quit.”

West Stanly has won six NCHSAA softball state championships, claiming titles in 1997, 2013, 2019 and three-peating in 2021-2023.