The North Jefferson News is taking some time this summer to look back at the biggest moments of the 2016-17 high school sports season. Starting at No. 10 and ending at No. 1, a top-10 list of local highlights will unfold—one at a time—throughout the summer months.

Coming in at No. 1 in the NJN Top-10 Sports Moments of 2016-17 is a stunning comeback by the fifth-ranked Gardendale softball team. Things didn’t look promising for the Rockets on April 15, 2017 as they stepped to the plate, facing a 5-0 deficit in the North/South Challenge championship game.

Three outs. That’s all Gardendale had to work with when left fielder Jaycee Dill led off in the top of the seventh inning.

To that point, the Saraland defense had retired 17 of the 23 Gardendale batters that evening, but Dill reached on an error. Freshman Kailey Vaughn then found her way to first base on another defensive miscue.

Hope flickered for the Rockets, especially when Madalyn Beach hopped an RBI single over second base for the visitors’ first run of the ballgame. Savannah Pennington then tore a two-run double into the left field corner, cutting the deficit to two runs.

Kylee Franklin, the hero of Gardendale’s semifinal win over Mortimer Jordan just a few hours earlier, poked a sacrifice fly into right field, which set the scene for senior Brooke Lyles—an injured catcher who head coach Barry Brake called on at the thickest of times.

With two outs recorded in a 5-4 ballgame, Lyles swung off one foot and guided a one-run single up the middle for a 5-5 tie in the top of the seventh inning.

“Brooke is the heart and soul of this team. Hands down, Brooke is the leader of this team. Everybody looks to her,” said Brake after the game.

“I was excited to step in, actually. I was itching to contribute, but I knew I couldn’t contribute as much as I normally do, so I just wanted to step in and do the one thing I could take care of,” said Lyles, standing on Mary Bowers Field in Birmingham.

It was all for nothing if not for a diving stab by second baseman Chaney Phillips in the home-half of the seventh. Her stop glued the winning run on third, as the championship game sank into extra innings.

Sophomore Carlee McCondichie sent the go-ahead run around in extras. After several foul tips, she drove an RBI line drive into the outfield grass for her team’s first lead of the game. Phillips followed up with a two-RBI single, as Gardendale claimed the North/South Challenge championship over Saraland, 8-5.

After winning the 15-team tournament, Gardendale went on to nab the Class 6A, Area 12 championship followed by a Regional championship in Tuscaloosa. The Rockets closed out their season in the semifinals of the State Tournament in Montgomery. They ranked third in the final ASWA poll of the year.

NJN Top-10 standings

#1 5 Runs Down

#2 Young shot-maker

#3 Jackets go back-to-back-to-back

#4 The Drive in Driver Stadium

#5 Pinson Valley nabs first-ever win over Clay-Chalkville

#6 Busby looks back on a dominant region title

#7 Mortimer Jordan girls make historic climb

#8 Fultondale softball goes viral

#9 Crowder shines in Gardendale’s first 7A win

#10 Peters’ last-second jumper woke a “natural rivalry”

Erik Harris is the Sports Editor of The North Jefferson News. Email him at njnsports@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @jeharris2.