The Blessed Trinity High School softball team captured the AAA state championship at the Olympic Softball Complex in Columbus Oct. 27, defeating Sandy Creek High School 2-1. Senior Amber Hamilton led the Titans, pitching a three-hitter and driving in both of the team’s runs.

Sandy Creek scored first in the second inning, pushing across one run on two infield hits. The Titans answered in the third when senior outfielder Sammy Lepionka scored on a single by Hamilton, one of the team’s seven hits in the game. The winning run came in the fifth, with Hamilton’s sacrifice fly scoring freshman shortstop Moira Sullivan. The game ended with Hamilton striking out the last batter, her seventh strikeout of the game and 294th of the season. Hamilton closed out her high school softball career with 990 strikeouts.

After a 6-4-2 start this season, the team jelled under the leadership of second-year head coach Jan Podhorez. The Titans put together a 27-game winning streak, capturing the region championship, sectional championship, and then the state championship. The streak, which pushed the Titans’ record to an impressive 33-4-2, was the longest win streak of any team in any classification in the state this year. The Titans lost their last game to Newnan’s Northgate High School on Sept. 8.

“At the beginning of the season, we were just 15 girls and two coaches. We kept growing closer, and we became a family,” said Coach Podhorez in a post-game interview. “I am so happy for them; this is something none of us will ever forget.”

This is the first state championship in softball for the young Roswell high school and marks an impressive 13th state championship overall.

School principal Frank Moore said, “Softball is the latest in what has been a great run for just our sixth year of varsity competition. The dedication of our coaches and student-athletes continues to impress everyone who sees our teams play.”