Glenwood softball takes home third consecutive region championship

Some things never change with the Glenwood softball program.

The Lady Gators continued their recent dominance, capturing their third consecutive region championship. Glenwood defeated Bessemer Academy and Edgewood Academy April 27 to cap off a 40-15 regular season.

In Glenwood head coach Dusty Perdue’s eyes, finishing atop the region was no small feat.The teams the Lady Gators took down in the process could also be ones the team must beat to take home the state title.

“That was awesome, to get the region championship,” Perdue said. “I think our region right now in AISA’s 3A is probably the toughest region. Just like in basketball, I think the softball state championship will go through our region again. I think us, Edgewood, Bessemer and possibly Lee-Scott could have a chance to win a state championship.”

As important as the region title was, how the Lady Gators got to that point in the end may prove more important in the long run.

Perdue said he was able to shut down top starter McKenna Gillespie, who won over 30 games last season, once Glenwood clinched its area championship with about two weeks to go in the regular season. She came back strong in Glenwood’s late push to win the region, making what Perdue estimated was only “one bad pitch” in her last 13 innings of work.

The lone error Perdue hinted at resulted in a home run for the opposition. Given Glenwood still won the game handily, it was an easily forgiven mishap in what was a special string of games for the Lady Gators.

“I was able to save her some innings,” Perdue said. “(Thursday), she pitched lights out. I was very proud of the way she pitched.”

When considering the Lady Gators’ quest for their sixth state championship in fast-pitch softball, Perdue stated a huge source of the team’s motivation can be found on its own campus.

The Glenwood baseball program has produced its fair share of champions over the years, with the most recent coming one season ago. As the Gators continue their push for another title, Perdue said his own Glenwood squad takes lessons and feedback from their male counterparts.

“They’ve set the example of how we want to run our softball program, too,” Perdue said. “Even before (head coach Tim Fanning), the baseball program was really good here. They’re going for their 23rd championship. We have a good example here to feed off of. Hopefully, we’ve done that.”

When the AISAA tournament begins May 5, the Lady Gators will take on Hooper, the No. 4 seed from the second region. Perdue, now in his 10th season at the helm of the softball program, said he will maintain his regular schedule for this time of year.

The team will get together on Sunday, hold a scrimmage on Monday and start fine tuning for the weekend. Once they travel to Montgomery, the team will eat at the same restaurant it has always gone to, leave for the complex at the same time and hit the field with the same goal of winning it all on everyone’s mind.

The recent region championship wasn’t something to overlook, but for Perdue, there’s bigger objectives left on the horizon.

“I was just really tickled we could win a third region championship,” Perdue said. “That is a big deal, but the next trophy is the biggest one for us.”

This story was originally published April 30, 2017 at 9:41 AM with the headline "Glenwood softball takes home third consecutive region championship."