MARSHALL, Texas — It was a monumental day in Marshall on Wednesday, with a crowd of over a thousand in attendance at Bell Park at Taylor Field to witness history.
East Texas Baptist University came back to shock Belhaven, winning both games on the final day to win the NCAA Division III softball National Championship. They also became the first team to do so on their own home field.
Playing a huge part in that was senior pitcher Maddie Melton, who got the start in both "do-or-die" games for the Tigers, turning in an exceptional postseason performance to keep her team in it when their backs were against the wall. It's also a special achievement for Melton because of her East Texas roots. Melton was a star for Hallsville high school, taking them to the state tournament her senior year. Now, her career has come full circle to continue her success only twenty minutes from home.
"It really means a lot coming back close to home and getting to play in this program. I got to play with five or six girls that I played select ball with and three girls that I played in high school with," Melton said. "We went to a state championship my senior year and now my senior year we’re winning a national championship. It’s really special that I get to make all those memories with those girls and then the ones that I just got to meet this year.”
After a journey back home, Melton completes her senior year with the biggest prize of all — a national championship. For her, she says the feeling is "indescribable". It also holds even more weight given all the variables that went into it.
In her first year on the team after transferring in from UT Tyler, Melton was becoming acclimated with a new coach and new teammates. However, some things like being close to home remained the same. Additionally, her love for the game never wavered, and she found the group of girls that were able to match that on their quest for greatness.
"It’s my first year here and it’s been more than an honor to get to wear the Valor Blue. One thing we said at the beginning of the year, we kind of set the theme for this team, and it was love," Melton said. "We were down a couple times going into some innings and there wasn’t a single girl on the bench that was silent. We always picked each other up, if there was an error on the field, if I was getting hit. Each girl had my back and I think the love that we had for each other just kind of carried us through to the end."