By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Prior to the first pitch of Saturday’s Sub-State game at the City of Millington Softball Field, only one person on the Millington Lady Trojan roster had Sectional experience.
Millington Head Coach Kasey Craddock played in the elimination round back in 2005. Then known as Kasey Bomar, Craddock came back to her alma mater this season and set the goal to get her 2022 Lady Trojans to the game before the State Tournament.
Millington entered the contest as the Region 8-3A champions but still underdogs to the Region 7-3A runner up Dyer County Lady Choctaws.
The DC faithful expected to run away with the game and enforce the mercy rule. But Millington had other ideas only trailing 2-1 after four innings. The Lady Choctaws erupted for a big inning in the fifth frame to prevail 7-1 and advance to this week’s Class 3A State Softball Tournament in Murfreesboro.
“I just told them going into it, ‘Just play your heart out,’” Craddock said. “‘We have nothing to lose.’ They came in and expected to take it in three. The fact that we held them to seven. We went out and did our thing and we played all out. That’s what we’ve been talking about all week long.”
Millington started the week as District 15-3A champions. The Lady Trojans took on District 16-3A second place team Ridgeway and defeated the Lady Roadrunners 16-0.
In the Region 7-3A title game a couple of days later, Millington dominated the Bolton Lady Wildcats 16-1.
Dyer County’s road to Sub-State started as the champion of its district. The Lady Choctaws outlasted Munford 3-1. But it was a 3-1 decision that doomed Dyer County against the Brighton Lady Cardinals.
The Lady Choctaws were first on the scoreboard Saturday with a two-run double in the third inning. Millington starter Breanna Hulsey was limiting the offensive output of Dyer County until that hit. The Lady Trojans cut the deficit in half in their half of the third inning when Kaleigh Wilston placed the softball into the field of play. A Dyer County error led to Daphne Fowler crossing home plate. Fowler reached on a single.
After an uneventful fourth inning, Dyer County exploded for five runs in the fifth inning to seize control of the game.
To close out the 2022 season, the Lady Trojans had a few highlight plays on defense with a diving catch by Rilee Ervin and a leaping grap by Kalia Duckworth.
“I tried to tell them there is no such thing as perfect,” Craddock said. “But I expect them to be the best they can be everyday. It starts at practice. We get on their butts. We don’t have easy practices. I told them to pick a Major League Player when you’re on defense and be like them. Come up to the plate and you’re freaking Babe Ruth. Know in your brain that you can do it.”
The Lady Trojans’ swagger emerged and the players started to take on the personality of their leader Craddock.
“A lot of it was confidence,” she said. “Coming in what I saw was they kind of knew they could do it. They kind of didn’t believe it. So my goal over the season was to keep pounding in their heads, ‘You’re good and you’re good enough to be here.’ Just saying that over and over again and making sure that they give us their all every single time they went out onto the field was the key.”
What developed a bond between coach and players was Craddock sharing her experiences from high school and college level. She challenged their mental approach to the game and made them work their muscles to create softball reflexes.
“The confidence to know they can do it and you can always do better,” she said. “They know we expected the best out of them and they learned to play for the team.”
With the school’s first district title since 2005 and Regional crown since the 1980s, Craddock said the best part about her first season back home is how the girls welcomed her back.
“Just the support from the girls, that has been just great,” Craddock said, fighting back tears. “They were like, ‘Oh my God, she’s here. Someone who will listen and support me.’ Just the support – look how many people we had today. It’s just so cool.”
