How McNairy Central softball delivered the state championship the school had long waited for

MURFREESBORO – Mellanie Surratt spent the final innings of the last game of the Tennessee high school softball season pumping up the sea of blue McNairy Central fans who'd made the trip to StarPlex.  

Surratt, the McNairy Central softball coach, wanted them just as invested in the game's outcome as her team.

School history was at stake, after all. Against a rival, nonetheless.

And it wasn't just about softball.

When Bailee Shelton struck out the final Lexington batter Friday, sealing the Bobcats’ 5-3 win over their district rival in the Class 3A state championship, it marked the first state title in a team sport in McNairy Central history.  

The school, with an enrollment of 819 students, opened in 1969.

“It gives you chill bumps,” said Chloe Shelton, a senior catcher for McNairy Central. “That’s crazy. But it’s what we were expected to do, and we didn’t expect anything less.”

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McNairy Central (28-12) didn’t want to let down the fans who'd traveled to support them. And they didn’t want to let each other down either. That motivated them to bounce back in the if-necessary game after dropping the first game to Lexington (29-15-1) on Friday.

Aspen Teague led the Bobcats with two RBIs in that 9-6 defeat. Lynlee Brown and Chanley Price each had two hits.

Their confidence wasn’t shattered. They were determined to bounce back to win the state title.  

“This is something my entire group of seniors has wanted since we were freshmen,” said Maddie Kirk, a senior third baseman. “To obtain it all together is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.” 

There were times Surratt would hear people say her team wasn’t excited after wins throughout the year. Those weren’t the games they wanted.  

“The state championship is the game we want,” Surratt said.  

And they didn’t disappoint in the biggest win in school history. 

"We’re that team now,” McNairy Central's Chloe Shelton said. “We’ve got the record place and it’s just great.”

“They won," Surratt said. "This is the dream."