North Pike sophomore Janiah Talbert came through in the clutch for her softball squad.
With back-to-back state championships on the line for North Pike, the third baseman earned four RBIs in her team’s 5-0 win over Kosciusko in Game 2 of the three-game series to seal the win.
Two of Talbert’s RBIs, included a two-run home run to left field in the fifth inning for the final runs of the game.
“I know when I step up to the plate, I have to do what I gotta do,” Talbert said. “I’m really excited for my team. I knew we could do it again.”
After going 1-for-5 with a run scored in a 7-0 Game 1 win, Talbert responded going a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate with the four RBIs.
“Janiah stepped up big for us,” said North Pike head coach Sonya Wallace. “She’s always a fighter. She might be small in stature, but she’s a fighter on the field, along with that whole infield. They’re all sort of small, but they have a lot of fight in them.”
Batting second in the lineup, Talbert hit .342 for the season with 35 RBIs, which was good for third on the team behind Madison Bigner and Madison Bates.
Talbert also was a part of last year’s championship team that swept its way through the playoffs for the first state championship outside of cheerleading in the school’s history. North Pike finished second in the district standings in 2016.
This season, the team won the district with an undefeated record. In the postseason, North Pike was successful in two winner-take-all games — a win over Lawrence County in the third round and against East Central in the South State Championship series.
The Lady Jaguars outscored Kosciusko 12-0 in the series.
Talbert said after clinching the championship last Friday that the journeys were different for the two teams, but they ended with the same result.
“Sometimes you gotta take a different route to get to the mountain,” she said with a smile.
