Huntington High softball coach Linous Wilkinson said his team could be the surprise of the MPSA&160;Class A State Tournament held this past weekend at Huntington.

But even Wilkinson admitted to be a bit surprised by his young Lady Hound team advancing to the finals, especially after losing its first game of the tournament to Trinity 9-8.

&uot;They did surprise me,&uot;&160;Wilkinson said. &uot;We really weren’t supposed to be there.&uot;

In the loss to Trinity, Tiffany Ferguson had a home run and Tessa Taunton had three hits, including a double.

&uot;The odds were tough for us after losing our first game because Kemper had just as good a team as Trinity.&uot;

The Lady Hounds rebounded with an 11-10 win over Kemper in eight innings.

Megan King had three doubles, while Lindsay Wagoner, Ferguson, Lauren Wagoner and pitcher Jo-Lee Hughes had three hits each.

Huntington defeated Claiborne 14-8 in its third game as Ferguson, Taunton and Sylvia Moak each had three hits.

&uot;Claiborne beat us twice at South State, and the girls said they weren’t going to let Claiborne beat us again.&uot;

In the finals of the loser’s bracket, Brandy Raley singled in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh as the Lady Hounds eliminated Trinity 9-7. Lindsay Wagoner homered.

&uot;They played hard, but they saw they could play even in the loss to Trinity,&uot; Wilkinson said. &uot;Every game that came up they didn’t quit and just hit the ball well. Each game it was a different person who stepped up.&uot;

Huntington was beaten by Macon 28-0 in the championship game.

&uot;We were worn out and just ran out of gas,&uot; Wilkinson said. &uot;But these girls will be tough to deal with the next two years.&uot;