WHITWELL, Tenn. — At the reverberating sound of aluminum contact, Aja Medina took one quick look to find the ball and bolted for home. By the time Shanda Barnett’s sharp grounder to second was fielded, Medina had crossed the plate to complete a dramatic seventh-inning rally and give Whitwell a 3-2 win over Sale Creek for the Lady Tigers’ second consecutive District 6-A softball tournament championship.

“I looked up and saw it going toward the hole, and I just took off,” Medina said. “I had already decided if it was hit to the right side, I was going. I didn’t want to have to play another game, so I just ran as fast as I could once she hit it.”

Whitwell will host District 5-A runner-up Silverdale Baptist in the Region 3 semifinals Monday, and Sale Creek will play at 5-A champion Grace Academy.

The Lady Tigers (20-8) had managed just two hits going into the sixth and left two runners on base in that inning. But trailing 2-0 in the home half of the seventh, they showed their experience. Whitwell — with six seniors on the roster — collected half of its eight hits in the inning, beginning with a leadoff single by Kaiti Hubbard.

Candace Woods followed with a bloop single. After Cayce Chambers’ sacrifice bunt, Medina bunted back to pitcher Brittany Tipton, whose throw to first sailed high and into right field, allowing two runs to score, tying the game. Brandi Nunley singled, moving Medina to third, and Barnett provided the game-winning hit.

“That showed a lot of heart,” Lady Tigers coach Grace Pickett said. “You can’t teach or coach heart. You can encourage it, but you can’t coach it. I told the whole team before that inning started to just reach deep and see what we could do.”

Whitwell committed two errors and walked a batter in the first inning to open the door for the Lady Panthers to score both their runs. Staked to an early lead, Tipton kept the Lady Tigers’ bats quiet through the first five innings and never allowed an extra-base hit.

“I don’t know what the deal was with us to start the game,” Pickett said. “When I called time out in the first, they just stared back at me. I’m not sure what was going on with them. I was wondering if we were ever going to get anything going offensively.

“We always say a good team finds a way to win, and these kids really showed a lot of heart and found a way.”