Kenston Forest School’s varsity softball team was once again like David this year taking on Goliath on the diamond. There were multiple Goliaths this year, and the Lady Kavaliers defeated them all.

It is hard not to be the David in a David-and-Goliath scenario when you are as young and small as Kenston Forest. Some of the girls are tall, and some are not, but nearly everyone is quite young. The team features one senior, three juniors, three sophomores, three freshmen and two eighth-graders.

And all of the girls contributed in meaningful ways to the Lady Kavs’ final overall 2019 win-loss record of 26-7. Eighth-grader Mackenzie Newcomb is actually already one of the team’s key standouts.

Among the Goliaths the young Lady Kavs had to face this year was their archrivals, Brunswick Academy, a team they went 1-1 against during the regular season. Kenston Forest topped the Lady Vikings 7-2 on the road March 28 and then fell 7-6 to Brunswick at home April 30. But the Lady Kavs were clutch when it mattered most, coming back to top the Lady Vikings 14-10 in the conference tournament championship game and then routing them 9-2 in the state semifinals.

Another Goliath was Southampton Academy. Not only did Kenston Forest not win against the big, junior-laden Lady Raiders during the regular season, the Lady Kavaliers did not even score. They fell 1-0 on the road March 8 and later fell 3-0 at home May 4. But Kenston Forest played Southampton a third time in the Virginia Colonial Conference tournament semifinals and somehow found a way to blow out the Lady Raiders, 9-1.

Lastly, the biggest Goliath of all is the one that dropped the Lady Kavs 17-2 in last year’s state final — Fuqua School. This year, the defending champion Lady Falcons, featuring eight seniors, were there to play Kenston Forest in its first game this season and then its last.

Fuqua topped the host Lady Kavs 10-8 on March 6, but one last time this year, when it mattered most, Kenston Forest came back to edge the Lady Falcons 3-2 in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association Division III state championship game.

It’s hard for me to imagine winning under more daunting conditions.

I would like to offer a big “Congratulations!” to the 2019 Kenston Forest varsity softball team, which was comprised of senior Rachel Moore, juniors Peyton Coleman, Haley Henshaw and Rachael Tucker, sophomores Molly Epperson, Berkley Rose and Mallory Barnes, freshmen Taylor Maione, Gracie Gunn and Shelby Gunn and eighth-graders Mackenzie Newcomb and Avery Tucker.

Titus Mohler is the sports editor for The Kenbridge-Victoria Dispatch and Farmville Newsmedia LLC. His email address is Titus.Mohler@FarmvilleHerald.com.