Featured photo courtesy of the Minden Recreation Center
The Minden All-Stars won the Dixie Youth Softball Ponytails X-Play state tournament with a dramatic comeback in the championship game Tuesday night in Alexandria.
Minden trailed Winnsboro 3-1 going into the bottom of the sixth inning.
Minden led off with two singles. A sacrifice bunt made it 3-2.
After a hit-by-pitch, Minden got a single to tie. With two outs, Minden hit another single to win it.
After losing an 11-10 heartbreaker to Madisonville in the first round, Minden made a dominant run through the losers’ bracket, winning four in a row. They defeated Oakdale 10-0, NW LaSalle 11-3, and Ruston twice, 13-1 and 7-3.
At that point, Minden, Winnsboro and Ruston all had one loss. Winnsboro got the bye into the championship game.
Members of the state championship team are Moose Jernigan, Erin Danzy, Brayleigh Lewis, Layla Holford, Chloe Gregg, Ella Wood, Rhea Waller, Emmaline Harmon, Jayla Joyner, Karlee Brewer, Kenzie Pamintuan and Lola Huddleston.
Coaches are Brittany Smith, Chase Huddleston and Marcus Harmon.
Minden will represent Louisiana in the World Series in Prince George, Va. The opening ceremony is scheduled for July 19.