Friday March 29th, 2024 5:46AM

STATE CHAMPS! Third time's the charm for Banks County

By Jeff Hart Sports Reporter

HOMER — It took three seasons and two extra days, but the Banks County girls softball team finally has it's elusive state title.

The Lady Leopards completed a 6-1 victory in a postponed game Monday with Bremen to capture the Class 2A state title, the first for the program and the first team state title in a bracketed format for any Banks County girls program.

(The boys cross country team won the Class 2A 2017 state title and the wrestling team won the 2013 Class 3A Duals state title.)

For coach Kelby Cronic and his team it was a mixture of joy and relief for a group that finished third in 2017 and second in 2018.

"I think for the first time all season I was able to sleep peacefully," Cronic said. "This was a great group of kids that loved each other and played hard for each other. But it really was more like 10 years in the making, not just the last two or three years.

"It was just a sense of joy for all of us when we got that final out. Just a tremendous sense of accomplishment more than anything else. But some relief that we also finally did it."

Tybee Denton pitched a complete-game two-hitter and fanned 14 Bremen batters. The one run, the only one allowed by Banks County the entire playoffs, was unearned. Jill Martinet had a pair of solo home runs to lead the offense. The Lady Leopards led 2-0 after the second inning, 2-1 after the third, and 4-1 in the fifth before rains in Columbus washed out the rest of the day. The Georgia High School Association then moved the rest of the finals tournament to the site of the undefeated team in each bracket, bringing the final two innings to Homer.

Banks County added on a couple of more runs in the sixth and then Denton got the final out in front of a jam-packed Banks County Field to ignite the celebration.

"An unbelievable atmosphere," Cronic said. "Fans encircled the entire field. Probably the biggest crowd we've ever had for a softball game. It was a lot of fun."

The championship game victory capped one of the more impressive title runs in recent memory by any team in any classification. The Lady Leopards, who came into the Elite 8 tournament ranked No. 1 in Class 2A, 11th in Georgia in all classifications, and 21st in the nation, outscored their seven playoff opponents 97-1, with the lone run being unearned. Denton posted a 0.00 ERA for the playoffs.

"Tybee was outstanding and you have to have a great pitcher in girls softball to have a chance at winning a title," Cronic said. "She is that. But you also have to have a complete team that can play defense and score. This team had every element. But they worked hard to get to this point.

"I don't know if it's fully sunk it yet but we'll enjoy it for a while for sure. The best thing was that we got to actually finish it at home. There's nothing like coming home to win a championship."

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