‘On top of the world’: Fort Mill seniors propel softball program to first state title
With tears welling in her eyes and a state championship medallion around her neck, Fort Mill senior Maddie Drerup admitted that there was a moment earlier this week when her team’s state championship dreams felt far away.
That moment was Tuesday.
That moment came after an 8-0 loss in the first game of the Class 5A softball state championship series.
And that moment, as of Friday just after 8:30 p.m., is what made those dreams come true at all.
The Yellow Jackets (19-6) won the program’s first state championship on Friday night in Blythewood after defeating 5A power Lexington 4-2 in the title series finale. They did so by only giving up three hits and by scoring four runs — and by virtue of a championship will borne from a loss on Tuesday that now seems eons away.
“You know I would’ve been proud of the team either way,” Drerup told reporters postgame. “And I knew that after Wednesday, when we came back and showed who we really are, (those title dreams) kind of felt like they were back in reach.”
The USC Upstate signee added with a shrug and a smile: “I’m just so proud of everyone. I really have no words. I’m on top of the world right now.”
Another man on top of the world on Friday night was Fort Mill head coach Chuck Stegall. With his trademark bright yellow Fort Mill polo and a towel tucked into his belt and a state championship trophy in his hands, the coach who’d been at the Fort Mill helm for 22 years finally got his moment.
He submitted his retirement to the district right before the state playoffs began — and he earned his storybook ending.
“I told some parents that this has probably been in the making for about 10 or 11 years,” Stegall said. “We’ve gotten close. We’ve worked our butts off. We’ve run into tough competition and gotten beat. … We wanted to do things right, we wanted to work hard, we wanted to play with as much sportsmanship and with as much respect for the game and for other teams, and it just worked out in our favor this year.”
The Yellow Jackets showed who they really were from the start. And the team’s eight seniors took the lead.
In the top of the first inning, after a pair of Lexington errors put Fort Mill runners on second and third, senior Drerup slapped a sacrifice fly to right field to send in senior Brynn Bartolini. The next pitch? Senior Trista Reid singled to center field to drive in senior Ava Balsinger to make the score 2-0.
“I knew it was my last game of the season because I’m not going to play college softball,” Reid said postgame, tears welling up in her eyes, too. “So I knew I had to do everything in my power to get on base and make the score even better.”
The Yellow Jackets extended their lead over Wildcats (27-4) in the top of the third. The next run would be thanks to Reid again on a single to left field that sent in Drerup to make the score 3-0. Then, in the bottom of the third, Lexington got two runners on — Fort Mill intentionally walked Louisville signee Sarah Gordon and hit Sam Craig on an inside fastball — and then Jessica Senn doubled to left-center to clear the bases and cut the Lexington deficit to 3-2.
The final score came thanks to Fort Mill’s Drerup, who nailed a single to right field and scored senior Olivia Poteat to make it 4-2.
And then came the game’s final inning. Drerup induced a groundout. Then another groundout. She then intentionally walked a batter (Gordon again). And then came another groundout — one followed by a dogpile and hugs and tears and a longtime dream fulfilled.
Drerup got the start and complete-game win on Friday. She struck out eight and only allowed two runs on three hits. She also walked four batters — three of those were intentional to Gordon.
Riley Ford, Lexington’s starting pitcher, allowed nine hits and four runs and struck out four in Friday’s contest. Those nine hits? All Fort Mill seniors: Drerup went 2-3, Reid went 3-3, Poteat went 2-3, Trinity Wall went 1-2 and Sydnie Spears went 1-4.
Stegall said he was waiting on retiring because he wanted to see what this senior class could do. And the eight players “who practically grew up together” — Drerup, Poteat, Bartolini, Balsinger, Reid, Wall, Spears and Emma Tisdale — delivered.
They delivered for themselves, for their coach — and for all of Fort Mill.
“This is awesome,” Stegall said. “This is for the girls. Yes, this is my last game, but this is about them. This about the days that they put them. It was about days that they had the tears when they got back on the bus and talked about what we were going to do the next time we had this opportunity.”
Added Reid: “I’ve been waiting for this all of my life … and we finally made it.”
This story was originally published May 27, 2022 at 9:58 PM.
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