It’s the 10th fast-pitch title for Newton County but its first since 2015.

“I have no words – it’s that good. I’m just really happy for the team, especially the seniors,” said Newton County pitcher Brittany Thomas, who tossed a complete game.

Justin Chaney has been a part of nine titles – two as an assistant and seven as head coach. So he has a good perspective on what set this team apart.

“Just all the heartache they had to go through the last couple of years, just wanting to get to that fast-pitch title, and their resilience and mental toughness,” Chaney said. “When we got on that yellow bus this morning, you could just see it in their eyes. We were 21 outs away.”

Quick start

The Lady Cougars (29-7) came out blazing, staking a 5-0 lead in the first inning against freshman pitcher Rylie Bearden (11-4). The Lady Braves committed three errors in the inning.

Once Newton County got ahead, it got aggressive on the basepaths. In the third inning, Lorren Ivy scored from second base on Karlye Tolbird’s bunt single.

Tishomingo County (29-7) was down 8-0 before it was unable to score against Thomas (12-3) in the sixth inning. The senior yielded six hits and walked one on 72 pitches.

“Can’t give up five (runs) to a good team,” Tishomingo County coach Jerry Long said. “But I think you see the character of our team. We came back and battled, which I knew we would and we had all year. But that was just about too much to overcome.”

Extra bases

Big Inning: A walk and hit-by-pitch set the table for Newton County’s five-run first. Shelby Anderson and Thomas had back-to-back RBI singles.

Big Stat: Tishomingo County had just two hits over the first five innings.

Coach Speak: “I would love to come down here and play every year. These people who get to play every year or two and win it, they take it for granted,” Long said.