The Tri-City Senior League All-Stars captured their third straight state tournament title by defeating Grayson 10-8 and 6-5 on Saturday at Russell High School.

Tri-City, which will advance to the Central Regional in early August in South Bend, Indiana, won the Junior League state title in 2016 and the Senior League title each of the past two years.

“This team never gives up and always keeps fighting no matter what is in front of them,” said Tri-City head coach coach Merrill Galloway. “We have an exceptional group of young women that love to play the game of softball and they will have each other’s back through it all. These young women are dedicated to one another and able to uplift each player no matter what situations arises in front of them. This team has bonded together and each player knows what the other player will do without thinking. Once they get to that point, nothing will stop them. It has been an extreme honor to be a part of this experience with them with the help of Randall ‘Corky’ Tackett and Everett Johnson.”

The second game was tied at 5 when T.C. Somersall led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a sharp single to right-center. Somersall stole second and third and then scored the winning run when Hannah Johnson grounded out to first base.

Kerrigan Creech was the winning pitcher in the first game and Destiny Cornett-Clark was the winner in the second game.

Grayson led 5-3 in the sixth inning of the first game when Tri-City sent 10 batters to the plate to go up 10-5. Grayson answered with three runs in the seventh before Tri-City stopped the rally and held on for the 10-8 win.

Somersall led Tri-City in the first game with two triples, two doubles and a single. Johnson had a triple, double and single. Emily Collett added two singles and a double. Madison Banks singled twice. Clark, Emily Long, Allee Galloway, Kerrigan Creech and Emily Sizemore added singles.

Clark had three singles in the second game. Somersall and Collett each added a double and single. Banks had a triple and Johnson doubled. Long and Creech each contributed singles.

“This is a special group of young ladies and it has been an honor to watch them grow up over the years,” said Tackett. “They won the Junior League softball state championship in 2016 and now have won back to back Senior League softball championships in 2017 and 2018. These girls’ accomplishments speak for themselves. I’m just thankful and blessed to be a part of their journey.”