GREEN COVE SPRINGS - Clay High softball coach Matt Lewis, fresh off a 10th inning 1-0 region championship win on the road; six hours out and six hours back in Pensacola against West Florida High School, seemed a bit misty-eyed when his four senior players that chose to stay with the Blue Devils’ team headed to Pensacola for that region championship game instead of attending Friday’s graduation night; Gabrielle Wiseman, Abigail Rutledge, Emalee Martin and Sydney Davis, plus senior teamate Kierstyn Mann, were walking from the graduation ceremony stage on the Clay High football field to the end zone to toss their caps on Sunday two days after the Class of 2022 celebrated their diplomas.

“This is one of the best feelings right here right now, to see those girls accomplish a region championship victory, have a graduation ceremony and then be able to possibly play for a state title,” said Lewis, who has one state title on his resume from 2001 and a bucket load of deep playoff runs, but none with the obstacles that his 2022 team has endured to be at this spot. “The team never had a doubt. That’s the God’s honest truth. There was never a doubt that they were going to get to the Final Four.”

A look back at Lewis’s girls travels last week showed a resiliency of faith that, first, lost a district semifinal game thus creating a waiting game to see if a region playoff spot would come via the FHSAA playoff points rankings.

“We cried all night waiting for that phone call,” said Davis. “It was awful. Then coach Lewis told us we were in and right then and there, we said, we are going to state. And it has been a crazy ride.”

The “crazy ride” included a clerical error that, first, with Clay losing their district semifinal game to Paxon to seemingly end the season right there, Lewis had a glimmer of hope to get chosen as one of the top eight teams in the region based on the FHSAA’s playoff points system.

“When the final teams were selected, Menendez was in the final eight teams and not us and that was obviously a clerical error,” said Lewis. “We knew if Bishop Kenny beat Yulee, we were higher than Yulee and we are in. The person who made the bracket mistakenly put Menendez instead of Matanzas.”

In that Bishop Kenny game, won by Bishop Kenny, who eventually lost a 17 inning marathon to West Florida in their region opener, Lewis got the rankings corrected to give the Blue Devils life.

“By .077 of a point, we got in ahead of Arnold High,” said Lewis. “I didn’t tell the team of the whole error until the next day. I just wanted to tell them we were in. As the last team in, ranked eighth, we would be on the road for all three games if we kept winning.”

From there, Clay, with that eighth-seed ranking, catapulted into the Final Four with a region opening win over top seed Baker County, a region semifinal win over fifth-seed Wakulla and, finally, the dramatic 1-0 win in 10 innings of second-seed West Florida in the region final on Thursday; all road games.

“At first, because of the Friday graduation, West Florida was resistant to move the game; we suggested Saturday, but the state said no because of weather had to be Thursday,” said Lewis. “West Florida had their senior awards set for Thursday, so that was a no. We thought maybe early Friday which meant a game at 10 a.m. so we could be done by noon and then drive home for the 8 p.m. graduation. That was feasible, but West Florida had county-mandated exams, so that was a no. Had to be Friday night.”

The senior quartet had one tough decision and also had plenty of motivation.

“We were mad for sure,” said Wiseman. “And that motivated us to knock them off in their place with their fans.”

Lewis noted that he was getting texts fairly quickly with the quartets desire to play in the region final.

“Kierstyn Mann made the very tough decision to stay for graduation and I supported her 100 percent,” said Lewis. “We had practice on Wednesday (after Wakulla win), we cried a little, prayed a little and I told them that I stood by whatever decision they made. I kind of liked the chip on the shoulder they had.”

That being explained, the irony is that Oakleaf played in their Class 7A region final; a 5-2 loss to Lake Brantley, on Saturday at 11 a.m. due to afternoon thunderstorms in the Orlando area on Friday and expected for Saturday.

“The top two teams in Class 4A, defending champion Eustis, and second-seed in 4A Deltona, are playing Monday,” said Lewis. “We won’t know who we play until late Monday.”

Against West Florida, with sophomore pitcher Gabbi Ellis seemingly indestructable in three games, Clay’s defense put the hammer down on the vaunted West Florida batting lineup.

“Our defense has been playing crazy good,” said Davis, who rifled down two base steal attempts from her catcher’s slot. “Everyone has been getting after balls and hustling every play. We knew with Gabbi back strong, we had a chance if we didn’t commit errors.”

Ellis, with a minor muscle injury in midseason, returned to the Clay lineup in a flurry after the Blue Devils’ suffered three straight losses to Palatka, Baldwin (in Class 3A Final Four with win over Keystone Heights) and Paxon in the district tournament.

Against West Florida, Ellis stymied the Jaguars with 11 strikeouts, but defensive plays from Kendall Mann, the sophomore sister to Kierstyn Mann, kept the Blue Devils in the game with a run-scoring triple from sophomore McKinsey Bardroff after a Rutledge walk in the 10th the gamewinner.

“Kendall, who was my second baseman until a concussion in midseason, has been our designated hitter, but with her sister making the tough decision to walk at graduation, we had her in at left field for Kierstyn,” said Lewis. “Talk about kharma or divine intervention because Kendall normally hits for Bardroff, but because of the situation, we did not use a designated hitter. Bardroff hits the triple to win the game. Kendall, wearing her sister’s number in left field, backs up a West Florida hit late in the game that keeps the baserunner on the base that gives us the win. She misses that, they score, it’s over. Big play.”

For first year Clay High Principal Jen Halter, the graduation ceremony is a huge milestone for the student athletes and much deserved considering the situation.

“Having a graduation ceremony for state champions has never happened for me as a principal,” said Halter, who lightly corrected her prophetic answer. “Soon to be, hopefully, state champions. This is one of the best experience I’ve had as an administrator. Graduation is a huge accomplishment and they deserve the right to have a graduation.”