By Justin McNelley

A walk-off victory sent the Goshen Eagles into the state tournament next week. Well, it was not a normal walk-off win; it was a real walk.

With the bases loaded in the top of the sixth, junior Prattvile Christian pitcher Morgan Burbage walked sophomore Elizabeth Galloway which scored Carmen Hill and gave the Eagles the eventual 3-2 victory.

Goshen (23-16) will make its second straight trip up to Montgomery but this year, they will go in as the one seed in its region.

After falling down 1-0 in the second inning on an error, the Eagles’ bats came alive in the top of the third with back-to-back homeruns from senior first baseman Shelby Vinson and Galloway. This makes 15 homeruns on the season for Vinson, but she had a little extra motivation behind this one.

“He called an inside pitch a strike the pitch before that was not a strike,” said Vinson. “It kind of made me mad so I knew she was going to come down the middle. When I hit the ball, I knew it was gone.”

Sophomore Haley Hughes picked up the victory for the Eagles as she pitched all seven innings and allowed just two runs on six hits and struck out five.

“I always told her (Haley) that I was sorry for her because she always said she was over shadowed by her mom,” said Goshen High head coach Dee Hughes, who is Haley’s mother. “Well, she’s not overshadowed by her mom anymore. It’s just awesome that everyone knows the talent that she has.”

The Panthers tied things back up in the bottom half of the fifth inning after senior Katie Goodson blasted a double into right field and scored Burbage. Goodsen ended the game with two of the six hits for the Panthers.

The Eagles will take this time now to scout the rest of the teams left in the regionals before the state tournament begins in Montgomery on May 16 and will conclude on the 18.