Monday was the one night of the season that inspired Great Crossing coach Donald Murphy to hug all the opponents rather than shake hands in the post-game receiving line.
GC stayed undefeated with a come-from-behind win over Male, 5-2, on what understandably was a night of mixed emotions for the veteran coach in his first season as the Warhawks’ skipper.
Murphy guided Male to 68 wins from 2023 to 2025 before taking the helm of his hometown team.
“It’s about relationships in this game when you’ve coached as long as I have,” Murphy said. “We all get caught up in wins and losses, but as you get a little bit older and you wonder how much longer you’ve got, it’s about relationships and getting invited to weddings and birthday parties and things like that.”
His new team stormed to 6-0 with a comeback in the middle innings.
Great Crossing pulled even with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning, when Maleigha McKinney blasted a two-strike pitch over the left field fence for the second home run of her freshman season.
“Maleigha is just Maleigha. She’s going to be unbelievable by the time she’s done,” Murphy said.
Singles by Taylor Gorbett and Mara Livingston, combined with the Bulldogs crucial error, broke the tie in the fifth.
Brooke Smith’s base hit prolonged that rally, culminating in an RBI triple by Dakota Mullins.
Mullins has more than doubled last year’s batting average of .234 to .526 and is the runaway team leader with 14 RBI in six games.
“She’s on fire. She’s got some confidence now, and you know how that is,” Murphy said of Mullins. “That’s 90 percent of the battle at this age. She’s put in the work. We’ve come in early, and she’s stayed late.”
Aevea Mosley-Franklin gave GC a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
The freshman speedster led off with a leadoff single, stole second, took third on a throwing error and scored on Mullins’ groundout.
“We’ve got so much speed,” Murphy said. “I think it’s important that we use that and put pressure on them. Put some runners in motion when we have the chance to and cause some chaos when we can.”
Ava Collins also had a hit for Great Crossing, which edged Male in that column, seven to six.
“It didn’t seem like we out-hit them, but they had a lot of hits for extra bases, which made it a little tighter than it needed to be at times,” Murphy said.
GC committed all four of its errors in a frightful top of the third, handing the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.
Kaylee Brooks and Camryn Noland each had a hit for Male (3-4) in that frame to prolong the agony.
“We made some good defensive plays when we had to,” Murphy said. “We were struggling early and gave them everything they got, so if you take that away. They had a big error, too, that gave us two runs.”
Both runs against McKinney were unearned.
“Maleigha pitched another complete game, only had three walks. That’s big for her,” Murphy said. “She kind of struggled with her screwball today, which was the reason they were barreling so much to the right side.”
Great Crossing is ranked No. 12 in the latest statewide coaches’ poll. Murphy is pleased with the Warhawks’ early flight but cautioned that it can’t last forever.
“It’s exciting,” he said. “We’re going to lose games because of the lack of experience, but man, there’s some really, really good days ahead.”
The Hawks could take some of those lumps this weekend at the vaunted, annual Bob Jones tournament in Madison, Alabama.
GC will play four Alabama schools — Huntsville and Ardmore on Thursday, Colbert County and East Lawrence on Friday — to set their place in Saturday’s single-elimination championship bracket.
“We’ll have our hands full,” Murphy said. “They’re getting ready to go into district play down there, played 20 games, so they’re pretty polished at this point and have their lineups figured out. It will be a good test for us, though.”
And yes, through all the tugs at the heartstrings in the latest win, the coach is still glad to be home.
“I really love those girls, and that’s obviously a great program, great school with a lot of support,” Murphy said. “A chance to get back home with this young talent this amazing facility and this great administration, it’s something that was a dream come true. I love those kids, but I love these kids, and I’m tickled to death to be here.”