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LIBERTY — The Centreville Academy Lady Tigers won 19-9 over the Manchester Academy Lady Mavericks to claim the South Class 2A State Fast-Pitch Championship on Monday at Ethel Stratton Vance Park, Air Cruisers Sports Complex in Liberty.

Billy Jones, head softball coach of Centreville Academy, said it was a great day to be a Tiger.

Rylee Shell led the Lady Tigers with four RBIs in the game. Shell scored two runs on a double in the first inning and another two-run double in the second inning. Amanda Newman and Mallory Bourgouis both scored three RBIs in the game. Newman hit a two-run home run in the second inning to tie the game at four all. The Lady Mavericks scored four RBIs in the second inning on two singles, one error and a ground out.

The big inning for the Lady Tigers (21-10-1) came in the bottom of the third when they scored nine runs. Three errors helped pad the Lady Tigers lead, Bourgouis hit a two-run single in the third and Savannah Hailey scored one run off of a ground out.

Centreville Academy’s Lana Dalton earned the victory on the mound and struck out one batter. She gave up 12 hits, six earned runs and walked one batter in the game. Dalton won all four games for the Lady Tigers in the tournament.

The Lady Tigers earned the No. 1 seed from the South in the Class 2A State tournament. Centreville Academy will play at 10 a.m. on Saturday against the No. 4 seed from the North at Magee Sports Complex in Magee.

Semifinal winners’ bracket

Centreville Academy played against Manchester Academy in the semifinal game of the winners’ bracket. The Lady Tigers won 7-6 over the Lady Mavericks to earn its spot in the championship game.

The big inning for the Lady Tigers came in the top of the fifth as they scored three runs. Dalton hit a two-run single to right field to score Lexlea Sterling and Baylie Ford who were on base. Emilea Roberts hit a solo home run to left field to begin the inning for Centreville Academy. Dalton went 2-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs while Roberts went 2-for-4 with one RBI.

The Lady Mavericks’ were held scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning when they scored six runs to trim the Lady Tigers’ lead to one run. Presley Trammell and Ryelin Levison each scored two RBIs in the sixth on two singles. The Lady Mavericks had the bases loaded twice in the inning and scored six runs.

Dalton was the winning pitcher and struck out six batters for the Lady Tigers. She pitched 126 balls, gave up nine hits and six earned runs. Manchester Academy’s Sydney Porter was the losing pitcher as she gave up five earned runs on 15 hits with two walks.

Earlier round games

The Lady Tigers advanced to the third round, where they held on for a 5-2 win over the District 5 No. 2 seed Claiborne Academy Lady Rebels Saturday afternoon.

Newman had the big hit in this game as she blasted a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to give Centreville a 5-1 lead. The game was scoreless until the Lady Tigers scored two runs in the bottom of the third inning.

The Lady Rebels answered with one run in the top of the fourth inning to make it a 2-1 game, but the Lady Tigers responded with one run in the bottom of the fourth before Newman’s home run gave them some much-needed breathing room.