TROUP, Texas — The Winnsboro softball team went through their entire lineup the first time around without a hit. In fact, all nine batters fell victim to Troup softball team's star pitcher Taylor Gillespie.
The sophomore struck out all nine of the batters she faced to begin the game. She finished with a stellar 15 strikeouts on the night, displaying some pure dominance in a playoff game, no less.
"I was very confident, and I just told myself that I was going to go get them," Gillespie said. "My coach, she said 'you're going to go get them, you're a bulldog.' So, I knew that we could go and get them and we did."
Troup fell behind late in the game, but won in dramatic fashion thanks to the heroics of Karsyn Williamson's three-RBI game winner. Head coach Sam Weeks said that teamwork in all aspects of the game really help her Lady Tigers succeed out on the diamond.
"We made a couple mistakes here and there, and we were a little shook up and rattled. But the girls handled it great and they never gave up or quit fighting," Weeks said. "No matter what the score is, no matter what the outcome is, they're going to give me 110% and leave it all out there between the lines."
She also showered her sophomore pitcher with praise. It's not too often you get a pitcher with that much talent, let alone one as young as Taylor Gillespie.
Coach Weeks knows how special Gillespie is, and praised her efforts in the playoffs to help fuel the fire of her Troup team.
"She's made herself known that she's here to play and she's not going to take anything off of anybody," Weeks said. "I absolutely love the grit that she's got and the energy that she brings to our team."