Lakeland Christian amped up its flair for the dramatic.

The Vikings were three outs from their first ever state softball title, hugging a three-run lead over defending state champs Westminster. That lead would shrink to one thanks in part to a bases loaded fielding error by third baseman Amy Burton.
Burton redeemed herself, however, by catching the final out as Lakeland Christian captured the Class 3A state championship with a 6-5 win over Westminster.

"When I made the error, I'm like, I just have to recover from it and cant' let it happen again, so that's what I did and I just made sure I didn't make the same mistake," Burton said.

With the ball high above her head, one thought went through her mind.

"I've got this one. I'm not going to make the same mistake,'' she said. "I've practiced this millions of times. I can do it."

That's been the Vikings attitude all season. They can do it.

In the school's first-ever state championship game, facing a three-time state title program, Lakeland Christian appeared calm, even when chaos erupted.

Trailing 1-0 in the top of the third, eighth grader Camryn Wineinger got the Vikings on the board with an RBI single. Lakeland Christian would go ahead 2-1 thanks to a Westminster throwing error.

Another eighth grader, Caroline Watson, increased the Vikings lead to 3-1 with an RBI double in the top of the fourth. The Warriors would answer in the bottom of the inning when they pulled within one run with Victoria Perez's home run over the center field wall.

Prior to the homer, Lakeland Christian starting pitcher Kristen Beacham had retired eight-straight batters. She retired the side in the bottom of the fifth to secure the Vikings one-run lead.

Watson tacked on two more RBI with a single to center field in the top of the sixth for a 5-2 Vikings lead. After the Warriors scored a run in the bottom of the sixth, a Westminster throwing error allowed Abby Burton to score for a 6-3 Vikings lead.

Then the drama was kicked up a notch before Burton secured the final out.

"They support one another and they come through," Coach Sue Wilsman said. "It's going to be up and down. They can come from behind. They can bring it on with two outs. It's going to be dramatic when that happens.

"Their two-out rally, that's them. They work together as a team."