Pisgah softball clinches conference championship

May 1—For the first time since 2017, the Pisgah softball team is Mountain 8 champions.

"It represents the work that these girls have been putting in, some of them for four years before being starters," said Pisgah Softball Coach Heidi Morgan. "Our conference is tough, and I'm just proud that we were able to persevere and battle to the top."

The Bears are currently ranked in the top 10 of the 4A division for the entire state, meaning Pisgah will likely have a first-round bye and a couple of home games to open the playoffs up next week.

"They're excited, but still ready to put the work in. Next week, we'll turn our focus to playoffs," Morgan said.

While the Bears haven't been at the pinnacle of the conference for nine years, they've spent nearly a decade knocking on the door of a conference title. Over that stretch, the Bears have consistently finished second or third in the conference, coming up behind West Henderson and Franklin in various years.

Pisgah softball clinched the conference title by winning both its games against Brevard this week, with a 4-2 win on Monday and 9-5 win on Thursday.

Pisgah softball came into the final week of conference play with a one-game lead over West Henderson in the standings.

A big step for the Bears' title run came last Thursday in a road trip to West Henderson. After trailing 4-2 early, Pisgah rallied with a five-run fourth inning to flip the game and take the lead 7-4.

In the seventh, Pisgah scored three runs to extend its lead — three runs that proved critical as the Falcons scored five runs of their own in the inning — to narrowly pull off a 10-9 win.

"They play travel ball with a lot of those girls, and just being able to battle and hold on to the end was great," Morgan said. "West is a very strong team and an excellent hitting team, and they've proven that against us twice, being able to battle back late in the game, and us doing the same."

The Bears held on to that one-game advantage going into this week after a 21-0 win against East Henderson the following day.

Going into the final week of the season, Pisgah had just two games left against Brevard and needed a pair of wins or a win and a West Henderson loss to clinch the outright title.

On Monday, the Bears faced Brevard at home. The Bears were the aggressors early, scoring in each of the first four innings to go up 4-2.

"I definitely feel like it was a big confidence boost being able to score some runs early. That's been a goal of ours all year," Morgan said. "We put the bat on the ball, and Brevard's a good team. They're a well-coached team. They make great plays. Being able to execute early and stick to the game plan was part of the goals we had set."

Pisgah was also celebrating its players in their final year as part of senior night.

"This group is a special group, just their work ethic and dedication and desire to compete daily. It's special to be able to coach and be a part of," Morgan said. "They've definitely left their mark on Pisgah softball. I'm not ready for them to go yet, so we'll just continue on."