JACKSONVILLE — Some championships just hit differently.
That was the reaction from veteran head coach Brian Hess after second-seeded Alexandria defeated top-seeded Oxford 11-8 Friday night at Jana McGinnis Field to win yet another Calhoun County softball crown.
The Valley Cubs secured their third straight tournament title and seventh in nine years, but for Hess, this one carried a little extra weight.
“Some of them were expected,” Hess said. “This one — I don’t know — something about it is just different.”
With a roster featuring just two seniors and one junior, Alexandria was still trying to find itself a month ago. Even Hess admitted a championship run wasn’t on his radar.
“I never saw us sitting here in the finals,” Hess said. “I figured this would be an off year for us.”
Senior leader Charlee Parris heard the doubts — and answered them.
“I feel like when we started nobody really thought we would be here, but I feel like we proved a lot of people wrong,” she said.
The young Valley Cubs, buoyed by Parris' leadership, grew up quickly, finishing the tournament with a perfect 4-0 record.
“I’m just proud of them. They have finally bought into a little bit of what we’re doing,” Hess said. “It’s just taken a long time to mesh, because we are so young.”
Parris led the charge, earning her second straight MVP honor. She finished the tournament 4-for-9 with three home runs, six runs scored, five RBIs and three stolen bases.
“She’s almost willed this team to be here,” Hess said. “When we need a pick me up — she’ll do something on defense, she’ll do something on the bases, she’ll do something hitting. She’s just a sparkplug, and we’re going to enjoy the next month and a half until she graduates.”
Parris put her stamp on the championship game with a two-run homer in Alexandria’s six-run second inning, and Jacee Brooks extended the Valley Cubs’ lead to 11-5 in the top of the sixth with a three-run double.
Oxford refused to throw in the towel, however, trimming the deficit to 11-8 and chasing Alexandria starting pitcher Reece Carr after back-to-back, run-scoring doubles by Emma Tims-Becerra and Madison Murphy in the bottom half of the sixth.
“This is the best we’ve played all year,” Oxford head coach Wendy McKibbin said. “We came together as a team. We were resilient. We didn’t give up.”
Hess handed the ball to Khloe England with the game on the line. Entering with one out and runners on first and second, England became the Valley Cubs’ unsung hero, getting a flyout and a groundout to escape the jam before retiring the side in order in the bottom of the seventh to seal Alexandria’s latest championship.
“She’s from Oxford. She moved here from Oxford, so this was a big thing for her,” he said. “I didn’t know if the moment would be too big for her, but it wasn’t. She came in and did what we asked her to do.”
Carr, who was the winning pitcher in Alexandria’s last three games, was named the tournament’s Best Defensive Player. She was joined on the all-tournament team by Brooks, Ryan Lumpkin, Baylee Elston and Cali Hess.
Oxford's Jayla Jackson, who hit a walk-off home run against White Plains to get the Yellow Jackets into the championship game, was named the tournament’s Best Offensive Player.
“She’s a competitor. I mean, game’s on the line, she wants it, whether she’s hitting or she’s pitching,” McKibbin said. “She’s an all-around athlete.”