Softball Tourney Run Comes Up Short in Championship Final Game

Kingsport, Tennessee- Entering the 2025 Appalachian Athletic Conference Championship as the #7 seed, the Brenau softball team battled through seven games in the span of five days but came up just short in the championship game with a 10-2 loss to Johnson (Tenn.) University on Friday.

The squad's valiant run included five victories- four over higher seeded teams- and pushed the #4 seeded Royals (29-13) to the final game of the double-elimination tournament.

In the first championship game, the Golden Tigers jumped out to an early third inning lead as sophomore Ava Moon doubled to the gap in left-center to score sophomore Dayton Power for the first run of the game. One batter later, junior Whitney Hulsey blistered a line-drive single to center field to score Moon for an 2-0 advantage. 

Brenau starter freshman Emily Hall held off the surging Royals by limiting them to only one early run to keep a 2-1 advantage. In the top of the sixth inning, junior Allie Busbee singled in sophomore Breanne Brookshire to extend the lead to 3-1. Johnson answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the Brenau lead to 3-2, but Hall slammed the door with four consecutive outs to secure the victory.

In the final game of the tournament, the Royals started fast and scored six unanswered runs through the first four innings en route to a 10-2 victory to secure the win and the overall tournament title. 

After getting down 6-0, Brenau (34-16) answered with two runs in the top of the fifth as Power singled home Busbee for the first run, then Moon drove in Riley Smith to cut the deficit to 6-2. However, the Royals held momentum by answering with four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take the win.

Moon, Hall and Power each received 2025 AAC All-Tournament team recognition for their play during the championships. Moon hit. 438 with a home run and three RBIs, while Power batted .428 with five runs scored during the tournament run.

Hall was stellar on the mound in her first AAC Championship appearance. The Winder, Ga. freshman pitched 23.2 innings and allowed only 7 earned runs to post a tournament earned run average (ERA) of 2.11. 

In total, the Golden Tigers' offense finished the season at the top of the AAC in several statistical categories. The squad led the conference in batting average (.393), on base percentage (.449), slugging (.526), total hits (539), total RBIs (322), runs scored (361), total bases (721), stolen bases (109). 

Nationally, the squad was second in team batting average, fourth in total hits, fourth in on base percentage, ninth in total RBIs, and twelfth in slugging.

For a recap of the 2025 AAC Softball tournament, click here.