This past Saturday, the Columbia (Lake City) softball team completed the trifecta for the area.

They became the third area team with the Tigers mascot to win a state championship in the month of May.

The Union County (Lake Butler) High School baseball team was the first to do it, followed by the Trenton softball team.

All three were No. 1 seeds, but they each faced adversity in the final four.

On Wednesday, May 13, at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, the Tigers’ baseball team shut out Cottondale, 2-0, in the FHSAA Rural State Semifinals.

Senior Erick Lasseter, who signed with Beville State, threw a 70-pitch complete game, allowing no runs on just two hits with no walks and three strikeouts in seven innings. Junior Mason Moore had a 2-RBI single in the second inning for the game-winner.

Trenton defeated defending state champion Holmes County (Bonifay), 8-0, in the other state semifinal. That set up an all-Tigers final between UCHS and Trenton in an instant classic championship game the following day.

Union County (24-7) was down to its final strike but scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to send the game into extra innings.

They walked it off in the bottom of the eighth inning, 10-9, to win their first state title since 2012.

“It’s never going to be easy at the final four,” said Union County coach Jiwan James. “They were ready. We battled all season long…practices were tough. It was a good year.”

Tonight from 6-7 p.m., we’ll celebrate the year that was as Coach James and the Tigers will be guests on “The Prep Zone Sports Show” at locally owned Sonic Drive-In of Gainesville (NW 39th Avenue).

You can listen to the show online with hosts Mike Ridaught and Marty Pallman.

The Trenton softball team entered its FHSAA Rural state semifinal game with Madison County knowing it would be a challenge, based on their only meeting at Trenton on April 10.

In that game, University of Florida commit Addison Allaire threw the first perfect game of her career with no hits, no walks, and 15 strikeouts. The Tigers didn’t commit an error in a 1-0 win.

It was almost a carbon copy on May 19 as Allaire and the Tigers defeated the Cowgirls (19-4), 1-0, in the state semifinals behind Allaire’s 16 strikeouts.

In the fifth inning, sophomore Addilynn Welbers doubled, stole third, and scored the winning run on a throwing error.

That sent the 2-time defending state champions to the title game, where they run-ruled Liberty County (Bristol) in the title game.

Allaire drove in four runs with a double and a home run as the Tigers (25-3) raced out to an 8-0 lead after just two innings and cruised to their third straight state title.

“It’s a testament to the girls’ mental and physical preparation, and their approach to the game,” said Trenton coach Kevin Benson. “They come in here with a game plan, and they go out there and they execute the game plan, and when you execute your game plan darn near flawlessly, it really puts a lot of pressure on the other team that they’ve got to match that, and when you got Addi Allaire in the circle, it’s hard to match that sometimes.”

Next Wednesday, June 3, from 6-7 p.m., we’ll celebrate the year that was as Coach Benson and the Lady Tigers will be guests on “The Prep Zone Sports Show” at locally owned Sonic Drive-In of Gainesville (Archer Road).

You can listen to the show online with hosts Mike Ridaught and Marty Pallman.

Much like the Union County baseball team, the Columbia softball team was down to its final two outs of the season on May 21 in its Class 4A state semifinal against Seminole at Boombah-Soldiers Creek Park in Longwood.

However, the Lady Tigers overcame a 5-3 deficit with five hits and three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 6-5 walk-off win.

That sent Columbia to its first state championship game since winning its only title in program history in 2013.

On Saturday, the Tigers (29-3) built a 3-0 lead against Lake Wales in the 4A state championship game and then held off a late rally which saw the Highlanders (25-7) score single runs in the sixth and seventh innings.

“I thought we were a much more level team today,” Columbia coach Joe Saucier said after the game on Saturday. “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.”

They ended the season with a 16-game winning streak.

From district championships to regional and state titles, it was the Year of the Tiger for Union County, Trenton, and Columbia.

A tiger never changes its stripes.