What became one team’s dream come true became another team’s dream of the future.

When the Telstar softball team won the Class C state title in 2006, a small group of players followed that team and hoped to be just like them some day. The oldest of that group are recently graduated seniors – Sam Largess, TJ Cowin and Lindsay James.

“The three of us would come down and watch the game and were like, ‘This is us. This has to be us.’” said Largess, a senior catcher. “We were determined to win a state championship. It paid off. It was a lot of hard work, but it paid off.”

The Rebels had lost in the 2005 state game at Coffin Field. The 2006 roster was filled with veteran players returning from that near miss. The team included a strong group of seniors that became one of the most successful groups of athletes in the school’s history.

“That class was full of that senior group, and they were so strong,” said Cowin, an outfielder. “We always wanted to be a group like that and be so athletic and be able to take the state championship like that.”

Well, Saturday, it happened. The Rebels avenged the disappointment from the previous year with a 5-1 win over George Stevens Academy.

“It feels absolutely amazing,” Cowin said. “It’s definitely good to come back here a second time and be able to take the championship.”

With Jillian Kimball, one of the standouts from that 2006 team looking on and working the field as a member of the Saint Joseph’s College softball team, Telstar produced a similar effort as the 2006 team did to win at Ward Park. It was Telstar’s third state title in five tries.

Telstar got a superb pitching performance from junior Kayla Merrill. She two-hit the Eagles and struck out nine. She also drove in three runs.

“We were confident coming in,” said Telstar coach Jim Lunney. “I think we’ve only given up 15 runs all year. We knew if we scored, we’d be tough. We control our own destiny. When we put Kayla on the mound and put the defense behind her, she does a marvelous job.”

Telstar made just two errors, only one of which led to a run. The outfield of Cowin, Hannah Morin and Tasha Farnun chased down fly balls hit their way. The infield of Nicena Walker at first, James at second, Lyndsay Merrill at short and Katie Sumner at third were solid as well. Largess did an excellent job working with Kayla Merrill behind the plate. A GSA team that had scored 126 runs in the regular season had just four baserunners, only one of which got past second base.

Offensively, Lyndsay Merrill reached base four times and scored twice. James did a nice job moving runners over and had a bunt single. Kayla Merrill and Morin each drove in runs with key hits, while Cowin doubled and scored in the fifth to make it 5-0.

“It feels so good after last year,” Kayla Merril saidl. “Everybody just wanted it this year, and it feels so good.”

Telstar lost 8-6 to Calais last year. The Rebels were plagued by mistakes and a rain shower that wreaked havoc in the middle of the game. The Blue Devils broke open a tie game with five runs. Telstar tried to rally but fell short with the tying runs on base in the seventh. It was a loss that provided the Rebels plenty of motivation this year, but it wasn’t a topic of conversation last week.

“We didn’t mention last year at all,” Lunney said. “I mentioned that we’d been here before. I tried to build on positive things. I tried not to say anything about last year. We did have a negative feeling about it. We didn’t play well against a good Calais team, and we got beat.”

The Rebels ultimately turned it all into an even greater positive, fulfilling a dream that’s been years in the making.

“It’s unreal,” Largess said. “It feels good.”

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