By Stan Caldwell/Sports Writer

HATTIESBURG — Coming into the season as defending state softball champions in Class 6A, George County adopted the motto that, “pressure is privilege.”

And with their backs against the wall, and their title defense in peril, the Rebels leaned on that philosophy with everything they had, and it paid off.

Junior Braylee Bishop drove in two runs in the top of the eighth inning, and senior Addison Davis overcame her emotions to make it stand up for a 6-4 victory over South Panola Thursday in Game 2 of the 6A State Championship Series at the Southern Miss Softball Complex.

George County (29-7) evened the best-of-three game series at a game apiece and forced a deciding third game at 4:45 p.m. Friday. The Tigers (31-4-1) saw a 21-game winning streak snapped with the defeat.

“We talked about the pressure being on us all year,” said Rebel coach Anna Grace Rigby. “When you’re a state champion, you’re going to have pressure on your all year, so we’ve bought into the motto of pressure is privilege.

“We told the kids this morning, ‘your back’s against the wall. What better moment to show you’ve dealt with the pressure all year, and that you’re ready for it again.’ And I think they showed that today.”

And no one dealt with more pressure than Davis, who was playing with a heavy heart after her brother was killed Tuesday in a workplace accident.

Davis came on in relief in the bottom of the sixth with the Rebels leading 4-3. She surrendered the tying run, but got out of the jam with the go-ahead run at third base and kept the Tigers at bay through the seventh and eighth innings.

“Well, it took a whole lot of faith, because I’ve got a lot going on at home, a lot going on with my family,” said an emotional Davis. “I prayed to God, ‘just give me strength.’ I didn’t have any faith in myself, but I prayed for it, and God gave me a whole lot of strength.”

Rigby sent junior right-hander Peyton Collins into the circle to start the game, and she gave the Rebels all they could have asked for.

Collins and South Panola senior left-hander Grady Beck Wilson matched zeroes for the first three innings. The only base-runner in those innings was a hit-batter by Wilson in the top of the third.

The fourth inning was when the game heated up, on both sides. George County jumped ahead in the top of the fourth when senior Jordyn Bradley smacked a towering fly ball to the fence in leftfield for a stand-up triple. She scored on a wild pitch.

But the Tigers roared in the bottom half of the inning, scoring three runs on three hits.

Junior Hailey Heafner smacked a leadoff triple of her own, then sophomore Hannah Robertson reached on a sacrifice that the Rebels were unable to make a play on, and she beat a throw to second on a put-out attempt in the confusion.

Freshman Olivia Phillips drove in both runners with a single to left, she was sacrificed to second and scored on a double by junior Kaleigh Cobb. But Collins got the final two outs, and it didn’t take the Rebels long to answer in the top of the fifth.

Davis, starting in the designated-player position, stroked a leadoff double into the gap in right-centerfield, and freshman Addisyn Chavers drew a walk. Both runners advanced on a groundout to first, and with two out, senior Aryana Dixon drove both runs in with a single to left.

“We had so many gutsy plays, so many gutsy pitches, so many gutsy swings,” said Rigby. “I’m just so proud of them. With all of the emotions that have gone into this week, with everything that’s gone on with our team, as a coach, it give you chills.

“We get base-runners on, we can make things happen. We can play small ball, steal the bases. Even early in the game, I never felt like we were defeated.”

Having seen Wilson in Tuesday’s 5-3 loss in Game 1, the Rebels took a more disciplined approach at the plate, and it showed.

“It helped,” said Bishop. “We made a few adjustments, and got to her a little bit.”

George County took advantage of the only error by either team to score the go-ahead run in the top of sixth.

Senior Blakely Slay singled to lead off the inning, and she went to second on an errant pickoff throw from the catcher. Bishop sacrificed Slay over to third, and the run scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of junior Kyleigh Howell.

That’s when Rigby called on her senior ace to get a two-inning save, and while Davis couldn’t hold for the official save, she did what she had to do to save the game, and the Rebels’ season.

“Peyton’s been dealing with an injury all year,” said Rigby. “So her giving us what she did was amazing. To bring Addison in, with all of the emotion, I thought it was big for our team to have her back, and she was going to do what she does.”

Collins allowed three runs on four hits, she struck out four and did not walk a batter

Davis (16-5) got one out, but a walk to Phillips and a double by Wilson put runners on second and third. Cobb got a run in on a sacrifice fly to center, and the Tigers put a runner at first on a walk. But Davis induced a comebacker for the third out.

“Like I said, it took faith,” said Davis. “I told Peyton to stay ready, just because I didn’t know if I could do it. But I prayed for it, and God gave it to me. My curveball is always my best pitch, and I leaned on it today.”

Wilson retired the Rebels in order in the top of the seventh, Davis pitched around a one-out walk with no damage, and the game went to extra innings.

Under international tiebreaker rules, George County started the eighth inning with sophomore Paisley Pipkins at second base.

Dixon bunted for a sacrifice, but the Tigers chose a throw to third in hopes of retiring Pipkins. However, she beat the tag at third, putting runners at the corners. Wilson got a popup in the infield for one out, but surrendered a walk to Slay to load the bases.

Bishop followed with the biggest hit of the season for the Rebels, a line drive into centerfield that scored the two lead runners. Slay was tagged out at third, and that was all the damage George County would do, but it was enough.

“Our motto is pressure is privilege, and it was a privilege to be under that pressure to get those runs home,” said Bishop. “I had a lot of confidence that I could get the job done.”

South Panola got its runner to third on a groundout to lead off the inning, but Davis got a strikeout and a groundout to shortstop to close out the game.

“She’s just a bulldog,” said Rigby. “She’s been a bulldog all year. So we just knew she was going to come in to give them a different look and close it out for us.”

Wilson (27-4) allowed four earned runs on five hits, she struck out four and walked two.

Davis is likely to get the ball for Game 3, although Rigby wouldn’t fully commit to that decision just yet.

“We’re going to think on that a little bit,” Rigby said. “We may warm everybody up tomorrow. We’re going to do whatever we have to do.”