MAYO, Fl. (WTXL) - On Tuesday, the Lafayette high school softball team takes the feild in the Class 1A State Semifinals. The Hornets are two wins away from bringing home a State Championship, and there's something special about being able to represent your hometown on such a big stage.
"To have a ring on your finger, just to come back and say you won State, you beat all the teams in the state, you're number one in the state," said senior infielder Ragan Barnes of how sepcial it is to play for a State title.
Number one is the spot the Lafayette Hornets are after, and they're looking to do it as self proclaimed underdogs.
"We just told our girls we're going to be better today than we were yesterday," said head coach Derek Garland. "We started by going to the District Tournament, we had nothing to lose. All the pressure was on Madison. We just went out and played and we kind of kept that momentum going as we went through the playoffs."
"We thought, okay, we can do this. We did that, we can do this," said Barnes of her team's playoff run. "We just stayed strong as a team. Now we're here, and we're all excited."
They are excited to help the Hornets get back to where they belong - on top.
"It was 2013 the last time we've been there," said Garland. Lafayette won a State Championship in 2012. "These girls have worked real hard to get back to it, try to get back to the legacy that we built here, the tradition that we've had, so this is real exciting moment for our girls and our community."
"I was there whenever they won State the first time, so it's crazy to come back and me be going down there to win State this time you know?" added Barnes.
This whole community will have their back as they work to that goal.
"Lot of these kids were elementary school kids the last time we did this," said Garland. They got to watch the sendoff, and some of them had family members, sisters that were apart of it. It's just a great thing for our community. It's just one big family."
One big family who can't wait to celebrate together.
