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The hard-throwing sophomore southpaw completed a sterling District 1-3A tournament, following up a 13-strikeout, two-hit performance in a 6-0 opening game win over Unicoi County by scattering five hits and striking out 13 once again in the Pioneers' 4-2 championship game victory over the Blue Devils on Thursday evening.

"She came to me after the first game. She said, 'Hey, I feel good, I want the ball'," said David Crockett head coach Alex Dulaney, who is also Madelyn's father. "I am going to trust her. She works hard because she conditions her body for days like this. I am not surprised she wanted it. She has that bulldog mentality and she did amazing today."

David Crockett (24-10-1), which fought out of the loser's bracket after a 4-1 loss to the Blue Devils on Monday, won three straight from the point, with Dulaney striking out 14, 15, 14, 13 and 13 batters in five tournament games, mixing speed and spin to help the Pioneers to their first district tournament title since their days in the Big Seven Conference.

"It is humbling to be able to bring this championship home, it really is," Alex Dulaney said. "We split the championship with (Unicoi County) in the regular season and to be able to have this solely, it is a feather in our cap. I am excited. Either way we are going to regions."

Losing to the Blue Devils on Monday certainly provided a lift for the Pioneers.

"I think we were very motivated. Everybody wanted to win, everybody was playing together. It was very connected," added Madelyn Dulaney. "This is our goal from the very beginning so I am very glad I got to help us succeed, help us all move forward."

David Crockett, which advanced to the Class 3 sectionals last season, will host the District 2-3A champion - either Virginia Tech commit Addyson Fisher and Volunteer or Grainger - in the Region 1-3A tournament on Monday, while the Blue Devils (20-8) will travel to the District 2 runner-up.

"I am so excited," Madelyn Dulaney said. "I see a very big future, our seniors are amazing, our freshmen clearly are amazing. We have two of them that are phenomenal. I am very excited, our team is very well rounded, we all really want this really bad."

After winning two of three from the Pioneers, the Blue Devils managed just seven hits and two runs in these two games, as Dulaney used her full array of pitches that includes a changeup, fastball, screwball, riseball and a curveball that can break in numerous directions.

"She was spinning the ball well, super well, and we just couldn’t catch up to it or we couldn’t catch (the spin) out front so we just worked from behind," said Unicoi County head coach Abby Hensley, whose Blue Devils defeated Dulaney and the Pioneers on Monday. "I think early in the tournament we had our bunts helping too. We got bunts down and tonight we just couldn’t really get our bunts down either. We put one or two balls in play, but then after that it was lights out for us."

In addition, the Pioneers struggled with seven errors in two games, including five in the opening game, three of which came in a four-run seventh inning as the Pioneers forced the action on the base paths. Dulaney and Laney Britton had two hits in the opener for David Crockett, while Autumn Wynn added a two-run single.

"We try to take advantage of all aspects of the game and playing that small ball really worked well for us. To be able to get that, to be able to get them off-balanced a little bit and come through with some hits," Alex Dulaney said. "Aggressive base running, that was a big deal for us tonight."

Two more miscues led to a four-run second inning in the nightcap, keyed by a two-run double from Dulaney and RBI single by Britton.

"Our defense was strong, but those one or two errors kind of just bit us in the butt," Hensley said. "With a tough team like that you have to make every play."

Unicoi County took a 1-0 first inning lead in the nightcap with a home run over the center field fence by Kianna Woodward. They didn't score again until the top of the seventh.

"It was definitely unexpected, but I love how much our girls responded," Alex Dulaney said. "It was, ‘Hey, let’s just shake off and go on up there.' Madelyn wasn’t too phased after that and the girls came out and started finding ways to get on base."

Madelyn Dulaney also did the job from the top of the lineup, doubling in two runs and adding a pair of singles. All four David Crockett runs in the nightcap came with two outs in the second when a pair of errors were sandwiched around a single from Lacey Whitaker. Dulaney's double and Britton's single were key hits for the Pioneers.

"They were very comforting," said Dulaney, of her teammates' reaction after the home run. "They were like it doesn’t matter, we still have so many innings left and then they came in and helped us out with a lot with runs."

Unicoi County starter Kaley Toney was able to keep the Pioneers off the scoreboard the rest of the way, allowing six hits and all four runs were unearned. Kyndal Engle walked and Peyton Higgins singled with no outs in the seventh. Brooklyn Sparks drove in a run with a ground ball, but an admittedly tiring Dulaney was able to retire the final two batters to end the game.

"A little bit at the end, it was really motivation and adrenaline kicked in trying to just keep going," said Dulaney, who was selected as the district tournament's most valuable player.

Higgins had two hits in the second game for the Blue Devils. Abigail Peterson added a double, while Woodward hit the home run. Despite the two losses, Unicoi County will play on in what has been a season of unexpected to success for Hensley. Aaliyah Engle and Peterson had the lone hits in the opener.

"Last year we struggled. Coming into the season I knew I had fairly (young) varsity players because last year they were young," Hensley said. "They were more mature this year, but I still didn’t expect this out of them so they have exceeded my expectations and to get to region, I don’t think Unicoi has been there since 2020 or 2021 so that is a good feeling."

All that matters now is Monday for the Blue Devils.

"At that point you have to lay it all on the line," Hensley said. "You play ball and then you see what happens."

Ditto for the Pioneers and Dulaney, who was happy to combine forces with her father to bring a district title back to Jonesborough.

"He is my motivation, he makes sure I am doing it," Dulaney said. "If anything hurts I will tell him and he will find some crazy way to make me stay in the game. He is an amazing person and I love him."

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District 1-3A

MVP: Madelyn Dulaney, David Crockett

All-Tournament Team: David Crockett: Madelyn Dulaney, Lily Mango, Eva Marler, Lacey Whitaker; Unicoi County: Aaliyah Engle, Peyton Higgins, Kianna Woodward; Tennessee High: Abby Haga, Kaylie Hughes; Sullivan East: Jada Moultrie.