Even in defeat, Martinez, seniors change the culture at Spring Hill

By Chris Yow

FRANKLIN — The 2021 season certainly didn’t end the way Spring Hill seniors D’naijah Wade and Kat Carter wanted it to, but the pair — along with first-year coach Angelina Martinez — weren’t going down without a fight.

This season’s fight ended in the 10th inning against Franklin at Fly Park on Wednesday with a 1-0 loss.

“I think Coach (Gary) Caperton said it best in our meeting after the game. He told the girls, ‘It means something different to be a Lady Raider now,'” Martinez said. “We are not a pushover anymore.”

With Carter in the circle, the Lady Raiders had a chance to win every night out. The Jacksonville State signee gave up just one hit and sat down 22 Franklin hitters on strikes in the game, giving her 306 punchouts on the season.

She took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, but gave up a leadoff single. After a strikeout, Martinez elected to load the bases with a pair of intentional walks, and the gamble paid off. Carter sat down the next two Franklin hitters on strikes.

The lone run in the 10th came on a ground ball by Caroline Willis to third base, but an errant throw from Marissa Ellis to first base allowed Emme Glover to score from second base where she was placed due to the International Tie Breaker rule.

With the loss, Spring Hill was eliminated from the tournament in back-to-back 1-0 losses to Summit and Franklin, following a 13-run outburst in the opening round at Brentwood.

When Carter and Wade were underclassmen, there was little doubt the Lady Raiders would be making an early exit from the tournament, but this season — under Martinez’s tutelage — there was a new expectation.

“In my first two years there were so many girls who just didn’t care whether they were out there or not,” Carter said. “Nothing against Coach Caperton because he couldn’t make them care, but Coach Martinez brought a different style of coaching.

“She was tough on us, and every girl in a jersey wanted to wear it this year. We needed that.”

A Spring Hill graduate, Martinez was part of a program that saw four coaches in each of her four years, with Caperton arriving for her senior season. That experience allowed her to reach the seniors and connect with them before the year began.

“I told them I knew what it was like to have a new coach your senior year,” she said. “I wanted them to know that I had their backs, and if they bought in that we would change the culture here.”

Consider the culture changed.

“I am so proud to be on this team,” Wade said. “We were so close as a team, and we never had that before. This loss hurts worse than any other season-ending loss we’ve ever had because of that.”

Never having a chance to play in a state tournament as a player, that goal is now one Martinez hopes to reach as a coach. Carter has faith in her coach to achieve it.

“I have no doubt in my mind that she’s going to win a ring as a coach,” Carter said. “And when she does, I’m going to be right there and I’ll be able to say that I was on the team that started it all.”

Photos by Chris Yow / SM-Tn Sports

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