FRUITPORT – The Fruitport softball team sometimes makes a few errors and gives up a few runs, like it did on Thursday night.

But the Trojans can sure pound the ball, and that exciting trend continued on Thursday, as well.

The biggest blasts came from sophomore slugger Kya Tawney, who smashed three home runs over the left field fence in the first game of a doubleheader, helping Fruitport beat Hopkins 14-10 and clinch a share of the O-K Silver conference championship.

Fruitport went on to lose the second game 16-14 in a wild slugfest, and it cost the Trojans a chance for the outright title and ended their 10-game winning streak.

But they still finished with a 10-2 conference record, tying Calvin Christian for the top spot. Fruitport is 21-6 overall.

It’s the Trojans’ first conference title in at least 10-12 years, according to veteran head coach Bob Dorman, and it felt really good to finally win another trophy, he said.

“It’s probably been since back in 2010 or 2012, back in the old Lakes 8 conference,” said Dorman, who is in his 17th year as coach. “This is rewarding because I know what these girls have done to earn it. They’ve worked hard. We didn’t want to share it, but we’re going to celebrate it like its all ours.”

Tawney’s three homers created some history, because they put her total at 13 for the year, which is a new single-season record for the Fruitport softball program.

Tawney’s first homer, a solo shot, gave the Trojans a promising 4-1 lead in the first inning. Her second homer, a two-run shot, put the Trojans up 8-4, after Hopkins had closed the gab to one run in the previous inning. Her third homer, a three-run shot in the sixth, helped the Trojans pull away and put the conference title on ice.

All three were hit to what appeared to be close to the same spot in left field.

“No, honestly,” Tawney said, when asked if she could believe she did so well in such a big game. “The third one I did not think was going over. It was a surprise to me. I was excited.”

Coach Dorman continues to be awed by Tawney’s skills at the plate.

“To have her as a sophomore – we’re good, very good,” he said. “I watched her last night and I came home and told my family, she has explosiveness. You can’t see her bat swing. It’s just gone. It’s that explosive.”

The championship-clinching game was a battle from start to finish, and the Trojans definitely needed their bats to put it away.

Hopkins grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, then Fruitport answered with five runs in the bottom half of the inning, powered by a single from Brooklyn Russell, a Hopkins error that allowed Mady Prout to reach base, a three-run homer by Brylee DeWitt, a solo homer from Tawney, a single by Kalli Tawney and an RBI groundout by Kendall Lee.

The score stayed the same until the fifth inning, when Hopkins scored three runs to make it a 5-4 game.

The Trojans again responded in the bottom of the inning, scoring six runs to take a commanding lead.

Mady Prout was safe on an error and advanced to second, DeWitt laced an RBI double, Kya Tawney followed with a two-run homer, Kalli Tawney was safe on an error, Lee hit a double, Kendall Prout followed with a two-run double, Bri Chiaverini walked and Russell hit an RBI sacrifice fly.

Suddenly the score was 11-4.

Hopkins added a run in the sixth inning. then Kya Tawney blasted her three-run shot in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 13-5. Khloe Courtade added an RBI groundout later in the inning and Fruitport led 14-5.

The Trojans struggled to put the game away in the seventh inning. Hopkins scored five runs, largely due to four Fruitport errors, but the Trojans finally got the last out and guaranteed themselves a share of the title.

Coach Dorman marveled at the way his offense keeps producing, game after game, when the outcome is on the line.

“After our last game I used a term that really fits – relentless,” the coach said about his hitters. “We are never really out of it. We see good pitching, but our girls just keep batting around.”

Kya Tawney finished the game with six RBIs. DeWitt had three hits and four RBIs and Kendall Prout added two hits and knocked in two runs.

Russell gutted out the win in the pitching circle, scattering six hits while striking out two and walking three. She overcame some shaky defense behind her, with the Trojans committing seven errors in the game.

The conference title was very big deal for Russell and DeWitt, two seniors who have played on varsity for four years, waiting for the chance to call themselves champions.

“We’ve been working real hard to get to this point,” Russell said. “We knew we had a chance to get the championship and we did it. It was our first chance to win something really big.”

“It’s great,” DeWitt said. “We came into this new conference and were so excited to try to sweep them all. We came a little short, but at the end of the day we still took the title.”