Editor’s note: This is the sixth and final part of a summer series revisiting the best of “The Prep Zone” sports show at locally owned Sonic Drive-In of Gainesville featuring interviews with area coaches and players with hosts Mike Ridaught and Marty Pallman from the 2023-24 seasons.

The Trenton softball team and head coach Clint Anderson, the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 1A Coach of the Year, joined Mainstreet Daily News Sports Director Mike Ridaught and co-host Marty Pallman on their weekly radio show on Tuesday, June 18.

The Tigers (23-2) advanced to the Class 1A Final Four in Clermont with a 3-1 win against Williston in the region final.

They rallied past Holmes County (Bonifay) with a walk-off 3-2 win in the state semifinals, and they had a miracle comeback in the state championship game. Trenton was down to its final out and trailing Branford, 4-0, but the Tigers rallied for four runs to tie it in the bottom of the seventh and then won it, 6-5, in extra innings to win their third state softball title since 2019.

Below are excerpts from the June 18 interview — edited for length and clarity — of The Prep Zone’s interview. You can listen to the full conversation online.

Q: Joining us in this opening segment is Clint Anderson, the head coach of the Class 1A state champion Trenton softball team. Congratulations on a state championship. Just tell me what it means to win one as the head coach because I know you won one as an assistant coach.

Clint Anderson: It’s awesome to go out like that. Our goal at the start of the season was to win a district championship and then win the first game in regionals, win the regional championship, and then punch our ticket to the Final Four, and then to win the state championship. That was our goal to start the season and it feels amazing to come back like we did (state title game) and win it.

Q: Go back to the state semifinals because you wouldn’t be in that championship game had it not been for a walk-off win. Talk about the win in the state semifinals, a big win for you guys against Holmes County.

Clint Anderson: Holmes County, we tried to break down all their stats and if you look at them, they had like 15 or 16 losses, and you don’t really know about the stats. But when you play them, they’re a really good team. Their pitcher was really good and she’s going to West Florida for a reason. You know, she’s good. And I thought we matched up against them well. I knew Addy (Addison Allaire) would give them problems. Addy pretty much gave everybody problems this year. But if she’s on she’s really hard to hit and she was on that game. She had one inning where she had a couple of miscues but after that she picked it right up and took advantage of it again, and we came back and won.

Q: Talk about what these seniors meant, because you’ve got five of them, and four of them are going to get an opportunity to play at the next level.

Clint Anderson: Four of them are getting an opportunity but Aubreigh (Brown) was also offered. She’s wanting to do other things. She wants to start a career and go to college, and you know, that’s good for her. But these seniors have meant a lot to our program and the leadership they’ve provided, the maturity, and keeping the girls’ heads in the game. Some of them have been in the big games and played in them. They’ve meant a lot to our program.

Q: Haley Blankenship is a senior, so tell me how it feels Haley to go out on top. You won a state championship in your last year. Pretty cool, huh?

Haley Blankenship (SR): Yeah, it was definitely such an amazing experience to be out there with all of these amazing girls. It just felt like such a family experience. I definitely feel like we just really rallied together this last game that we played together, and it was just such an amazing and like breathtaking experience to be a part of. It was definitely a nail-biter at the end of the game. I was scared. I think all of us were starting to cry because we thought we were going to lose but to get to that point and be state champs is just an amazing thing that I didn’t think I could be a part of.

Q: Up next is Brandy Dees, also a senior. Same thing for you. I mean, to win a state championship, your last go at it. But you were a part of that other state championship team, too. Can you compare the two?

Brandy Dees (SR): I would say this state championship was totally different from back in ‘21. Just having this experience and that experience, it was a totally different feeling from being a senior, from being a freshman, especially with this group of girls. I think it was a really great game. And I’ve had plenty of people come up to me and say they’ve never seen a game like that before.

Q: Freshman sensation Addison Allaire joins us now. First of all, congratulations on a state championship. Describe the feeling when you won state and what it was like. Addison Allaire (FR): It was a great feeling. It was cool to have a different experience than the last time, especially getting to pitch in the state championship game. I’m super proud of Emma (pitcher EmmaLee Brideson) for coming in and recovering for me. It wasn’t my best day but I’m really proud of us for coming together as a team and winning.