Behind a complete-game performance from freshman pitcher Ryleigh Stone and a clutch fourth inning at the plate, Columbia High School battled to a 3-2 win over Lake Wales High School to capture the FHSAA Class 4A state championship on Saturday afternoon in Longwood.

Columbia (29-3) finished the season on a 16-game winning streak and secured the program’s first softball state title in 13 years by surviving multiple tense, late-game moments behind a veteran lineup and a freshman pitcher who never looked rattled under pressure.

Coming off Thursday’s dramatic semifinal comeback win over Seminole, Columbia coach Joe Saucier said the Tigers were far more composed and credited the team’s experience throughout the season for preparing them for every situation they encountered Friday.

“I thought we were a much more level team today,” Saucier said. “Thursday we weren’t locked in like we normally were. I told them this morning, ‘There is absolutely nothing that’s gonna happen today that y’all haven’t already seen this season.’ We’ve beaten Division I pitchers, we’ve lost to Division I pitchers, we’ve come from behind, we’ve beat state champions . . . .We’ve seen everything already, so today was about trusting our training.”

Both teams went quietly in the opening inning before Stone began establishing control in the circle. After allowing a single in the second inning, the freshman responded by striking out three consecutive batters, energizing a packed Columbia crowd that filled the stands in purple and gold.

The Tigers finally broke through offensively in the fourth.

After Anna Dansby and Alannah Lord were both hit by pitches, senior catcher Emma Delgado stepped to the plate with one out and lined a shot into right field for a two-run triple, giving Columbia a 2-0 lead and igniting the dugout.

Delgado said she trusted the scouting report and stayed patient waiting for her pitch.

“My girl Josie told me she was living on that outside pitch,” Delgado said. “When I knew she was gonna throw it outside, I was gonna take it the opposite way. That outfielder had been shifted all game. So I knew if I just put it right in the pocket, it’d go all the way. I knew we’d be fine, and we got this thing started.”

Columbia added another run in the fifth after Addy Sherman doubled and Lord punched an RBI single through the left side to extend the lead to 3-0.

Meanwhile, Stone continued handling every high-pressure situation that came her way.

In the sixth inning, Lake Wales capitalized on a Columbia error and loaded the bases after consecutive walks, threatening to completely flip the game’s momentum. Following a circle visit from Saucier, Stone calmly regrouped and struck out the next batter on four straight strikes to end the inning.

Stone said she actually embraces the intensity of big moments.

“The pressure honestly helps me a lot,” Stone said. “I love when it gets loud. Somebody before the game asked me if they needed to stay quiet for me, and I was like, ‘No, no, y’all can be loud.’ I feed off that stuff.”

Even after navigating multiple jams, the freshman still had one more tense inning waiting for her.

Lake Wales opened the seventh with back-to-back hits before eventually cutting the deficit to 3-2. After Columbia intentionally walked the Highlanders’ top hitter to load the bases with two outs, the championship came down to one final at-bat.

On a 2-2 count, the Lake Wales batter launched a deep fly ball to right field, but Marlee Hunt settled underneath it to secure the final out and send the Tigers pouring onto the field in celebration.

Stone admitted the moment almost caught her off guard.

“I didn’t even realize it was the seventh inning,” she said, laughing. “I thought we still had two more innings left because I honestly don’t look at the inning numbers out there. So when Marlee caught it, I was about to get ready to go hit again.”

Stone finished the complete-game performance with nine strikeouts while allowing just two runs. Delgado drove in two runs with her triple, while Hunt collected two hits and recorded the championship-clinching catch.

For Delgado and Columbia’s senior class, the victory carried extra emotional weight knowing it marked the final game they would ever play together.

“It feels so surreal right now,” Delgado said. “I don’t even think it’s fully hit any of us yet with us being seniors and our last game. We grew up together, and now to go out as state champions, it’s emotional and heartwarming. I would give anything just to play one more game with these girls.”

Saucier praised the toughness of his lineup after Columbia absorbed four hit-by-pitches during the championship game.

“Our girls are tough, and they’re tight,” he said. “When you hit one of them, you hit all 15 of them. We knew they wanted to stay outside all game, so we put our toes on the line. Sometimes in the heat of battle, those pitches miss and you wear it.”

The second-year head coach became emotional discussing the support Columbia received throughout the state tournament run and what the championship meant to the Lake City community.

“It’s the first one in 13 years for Columbia and my first one in my second year,” Saucier said. “I think we got many more to come. I took this job for a reason, ’cause I knew the community that we had. We had purple and gold packed all the way around this stadium. The amount of stuff this community helped raise for these girls so they could come down here and do what they did was special. We’re definitely gonna have a celebration when we get back.”

Saucier said the chemistry inside the dugout ultimately became the foundation for Columbia’s championship season.

“We probably had JV girls that could’ve helped us. I didn’t bring them up for a reason because of how tight that dugout was.” Saucier said. “We had a rotation. Everybody knew their job, what they were supposed to do. I told them when playoffs started that we were 0-0 and needed to get to 7-0. We beat some really good teams to do it, too.”