ALBERTVILLE, Ala. – In a year full of firsts for Hanceville’s softball program, the Lady Bulldogs just tacked on another.
On Thursday morning, Hanceville, with no losses to their name at Regionals, just needed one more win to secure their first ever Region title and move on to their first ever State Tournament. The Tigers put up a fight, and threatened down to the last out, but thanks to a clutch save from KK Butler, the Bulldogs took the game, 3-2, and will compete for a State Championship in Oxford next week.
Butler started the game for Hanceville, too, and continued an incredible Regionals run with a five-inning, four-hit, zero-earned run game while striking out six batters.
“First off, I want to praise God for everything he’s done for us through this entire season. 
I’m so proud of my girls, I could not have done any of this without them. On the emotions… just enthusiasm, proudness. 
I’m so proud of my girls. I’m so happy and I can’t wait to go further. I’m speechless, I’m really am. 
I have nothing to say other than I’m so proud of them,,” Butler said after the win.
In typical fashion, the Bulldogs got on the board first thanks to stellar base running. Leading off the game for Hanceville in the first, Kynzlee Farr singled, made her way to second on a dropped ball by the catcher, then made her way all the way home on an errant throw after a pop-fly from Butler was dropped to make it 1-0 Bulldogs.
More chaos came on the base paths in the second, as Laila Lewis knocked a triple to right, then made it all the way home on yet another Tiger error to make it 2-0 Hanceville.
Randolph would strike in the fifth with Isabella Spinks on the mound, with Hannah Parmer grounding out, but Gracie Huckeba scoring after being walked earlier in the inning, making it just a 2-1 Hanceville lead.
The Bulldogs added some cushion to their lead just the next half-inning, with a Farr triple scoring Piper Butts who made it on thanks to yet another dropped pop-fly from Randolph.
With the score 3-1 in the top of the seventh, head coach Kim Lewis sent their ace, Butler, back onto the mound. Things were shaky, with two batters making it on safely thanks to errors and another due to a hit-by-pitch. A sac-fly scored one Tiger, and it looked like Randolph had seized momentum. Despite all the pressure on Butler, she was ice cold, and struck out two straight batters to seal the Regional title.
“I want more. From day one, I’ve I’ve wanted more. 
Nothing can satisfy me other than just more. I’m greedy with it. But again, I couldn’t have done it without my team,” Butler said.
Hanceville is among the first to punch their tickets to Oxford, but the team is reportedly set to play their first game on Monday at Choccolocco Park.
On the victory, and the emotions after, Lewis said, “To watch these girls cry because they won is a hard thing to watch. It just shows the sheer volume of the desire for them to actually do something that they’re they’ve never done. 
They’ve never even had the confidence. We talked about that in the beginning of the year and how unconfident this community of girls is in themselves. To just to be able to restore that confidence- or do our best as coaches to restore that confidence, uh it truly means something.”
