How Halls freshman Atiana Stamper outlasted ETSU signee Makayla Cooper in 11-inning shutout

Emily Adams
Knoxville News Sentinel

As Halls freshman Atiana Stamper walked to the pitcher's mound at the top of the 10th inning against Union County on Wednesday, senior Aspen Calloway asked her, "Are you tired yet?"

"She was like uh ...  and I said just tell me no. You're good, just say you're not tired," Calloway said. "And she said., 'Nope, I'm not tired.' I knew she could do it. It took a lot of convincing her that she's got this and she can shut them down, but when she's on, she's on."

The freshman picked the perfect time to have the best performance of her career, going toe to toe against Union County ace and East Tennessee State signee Makayla Cooper. Stamper tossed 23 strikeouts over 11 innings to shut out the visiting Patriots in a 1-0 win.

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After the game, Stamper had her shoulder wrapped in bags of ice, but that didn't stop her from dancing into the locker room to teammates' cheers as LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem blasted through a speaker. She was nearly speechless as she reflected on her accomplishment.

"I can't believe I did that," she said. "It's crazy I had 23 strikeouts. (When Halls scored) I was so excited just thinking I don't have to go back out there."

Stamper's previous career high was 11 strikeouts, and she had only pitched two complete seven-inning games entering Wednesday's contest. Calloway, a University of the Cumberlands signee, has been the team's go-to pitcher with a 1.35 ERA and 103 strikeouts. 

Halls pitcher Atiana Stamper on the mound during the Union County at Halls softball game at Halls, Tenn. on Wednesday, May 4, 2022.

Halls Ccoach Bryan Gordon said Stamper's performance against Union County was the payoff of a long process of building mutual trust.

"She can be as good as she wants to be," Gordon said. "She's gaining our trust and I'm gaining hers and I think we get a little bit better every time she goes out there. She also sees how Aspen has success, and I think that puts more trust in me as a pitch caller when I'm calling pitches for her."

Calloway said pitching has never been the strongest element of her game and has more confidence in her abilities as a hitter — she has a .580 batting average hitting five home runs and 25 RBIs. She was the team's lone pitcher in 2021, so after throwing nearly every pitch in every varsity game, she was thrilled to pass some of the responsibility to Stamper this season.

Halls Designated Player Aspen Calloway lines up to bat during the Union County at Halls softball game at Halls, Tenn. on Wednesday, May 4, 2022.

"I trust (Stamper) more than I trust myself sometimes, I really do," Calloway said. "There are some games where I tell (Gordon), I'm like, can she pitch this game because I trust her more. It's such a big relief having her here."

The Devils (23-8) now enter the District 3-3A tournament off of one of their biggest wins of the season as the No. 1 seed.

"I think this game glued us together a lot more as a team," Stamper said. "Now we know what we can do."

Contact Emily Adams at eaadams@gannett.com or on Twitter @eaadams6.