King softball takes the Conference Carolinas tournament championship

A trio of local softball pitchers helped lead the King Tornado past Francis Marion to win the Conference Carolinas tournament championship Sunday afternoon. Junior Nikole Counts (Ridgeview) pitched a complete game shut out, allowing only two hits and walking three while fanning two. Counts, who is 19-7 on the year in the circle, was named the tournament MVP.

“It’s just an unbelievable feeling,” Counts said. “This team is just amazing. We all had the same mindset and wanted this so badly, and for it to actually happen is just unreal.”

The Tornado (41-15) only crossed the plate one time, but with Counts’ expert pitching on the mound, that was all that they needed. Senior Rikkelle Miller led off the fourth inning with a solo home run for the 1-0 victory and King’s 15th consecutive win.

Sophomore Marleigh Duncan (Union) earned her sixth save of the season in the penultimate game of the tournament, getting the last two outs of the game after Counts went 6.1 innings. With the victory, King posted their first ever 40 win season in school history.

“It’s truly is such an exciting experience. Everyone on this team has always been so present and have focused on one game at a time,” Duncan said. “Being on a team that’s so down to earth is such a great feeling because you know you have everyone behind you in every situation.”

Senior Haley Mullins (Central) was the first of the trio to make the trek to Bristol. She talked about facing off against her now-teammates when they were all competing in travel ball and the Mountain 7.

“I played with Nikole in travel ball for years and we split the pitching duties there. The Mountain 7 was always super competitive, so we knew it was anyone’s game any day,” Mullins said.

All three players remembered the competition from their high school days, but have found a home at King and a sisterhood with one another.

“Being at King and playing with them is way better than playing against each other because we get to work together as one,” Mullins said.

“When Ridgeview played Central or Union, it was always competitive,” Counts said of competing against Mullins and Duncan. “To turn it around and be great friends now and to also be playing at King together is such an amazing experience.”

As the youngest in the crew, Duncan spoke about the stress of facing off against Ridgeview or Central during her time in the circle.

“I remember playing Ridgeview at John Battle during my sophomore year and Nikole had already committed to King, which I had shown interest in. Just knowing I was playing against my future teammate was definitely nerve-wracking,” Duncan said of the competition.

“The three of us have gotten so close as friends this whole year, so I definitely couldn’t imagine my experience of this year being any better with them by my side, especially us all being on the pitching staff,” Duncan said.

With their tournament victory, the Tornado earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Softball Championship. They will learn more about their seeding and competition soon as the selection show will take place on Monday, May 9. The game plan will remain the same, though, as the Tornado looks to storm all the way to a national championship.

“This team is on a roll. We all want to win and we do it for each other,” Counts said. “We need to keep the same mindset and we will also be seeing a few teams that we have already played in the regular season. As long as we keep the same winning mindset, this team will go far.”