ELBA — Goshen softball coaches Amy Warrick and Dee Hughes could barely contain their excitement following the extra-inning win over New Brockton in the first round of the area tournamet in Elba on Thuesday night.

The Lady Eagles picked up the emotional, come-from-behind win 3-2 over the Gamecocks in dramatic fashion.

Freshman Katie Thomas beat out an infield single to allow the winning run to score in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Trailing 2-1 in the sixth inning, senior first baseman Shelby Vinson hit her second homer of the day to give the Eagles new life heading to seventh.

“Shelby did a great job keeping calm and finding a pitch to hit,” said Hughes. “A lot of times after hitting a home run, teams will walk you. She kept her head in, and found a good one to drive.”

While Vinson did a lot of work at the plate, the Eagle defense received a lot of praise from Snyder after the game was done.

Samantha Roy, Fran Warrick and Thomas all received nods for their play with the glove from their head coach,

“Sam, Fran and Katie all made good plays that kept us in the game,” said Hughes. “Those plays saved some runs from coming across and in a close game, defense is always key.”

Haley Hughes and Lizzy Galloway combined to handcuff the Gamecock batters in the later innings to seal the emotional win for Hughes and camp.

In her post-game speech to their team, Hughes and Warrick emphasized that the win over New Brockton was just the first part of a long road.

Goshen has been to the state tournament numerous times in the past, and Hughes has led the team to the regional tournament on four different occasions.

“You have to play with confidence, and believe that you can win,” said Hughes. “But at the same time, you can’t get over confident. We will have to flush this one, and be ready to play again tomorrow.”

The home runs for Vinson were her thirteenth and fourteenth of the 2013 season.

Goshen will meet Zion Chapel at 2 p.m. on Friday at Elba. The winner of the game will receive an automatic birth in the regional tournament next week.

The tournament concluded on Friday, with a champion being crowned at 7 P.m.