Being hoisted on the shoulders of your teammates after making the winning play in a big game. That’s the dream of a lot of young kids when it comes to sports, especially on that sleepless night after mom or dad signed you up for little league and you just couldn’t wait to find out what team you’re on or when practice starts.
As an athlete gets older, a major moment like that is something that might inspire rising out of bed at 5 a.m. to get that extra session in the weight room or maybe get some extra batting cage time in.
For Grand Oaks senior center fielder Ava Butler, that childhood dream of hitting the walk-off grand slam to win a tournament championship came true this past Saturday afternoon.
Butler hammered an opposite-field grand slam that left in a hurry as the Grizzlies defeated Ridge Point 10-8 to claim the Space City Classic championship in League City.
“I’ve hit home runs, but I’ve never walked off a game before,” Butler said Monday night after Grand Oaks defeated The Woodlands. “It was a really good feeling.”
Butler’s blast went over the fence just as she approached first base. Momentum was already pulling her teammates from the dugout to home plate area to greet her by that time she circled the bag.
“I was almost crying running around the bases,” Butler said.
The homer capped a remarkable weekend for Butler and her teammates. The Grizzlies scored 53 runs over six games – wins over Houston Heights, Magnolia, Clear Falls, Brandeis, Plano East and Ridge Point – before returning home Monday to pop The Woodlands 16-2 in the District 13-6A opener.
The Space City Classic has some oddball rules. And, well, Butler took advantage.
“This particular tournament has a few weird quirks to it,” Grand Oaks head coach Paula Miller said Monday night. “Things that we are not used to. We actually spent some time talking about what could happen. It was not a surprise. They knew that was coming.”
After the championship game ran past its time limit and the game was tied 6-6, the tournament went into a mode in the seventh where each half-inning began with the bases loaded and one out. Neither the Panthers (the away team) or the Grizzlies were able to take advantage of that in the seventh.
In the top of the eighth, Ridge Point took an 8-6 lead.
“We held them, they held us,” Miller said about the seventh inning. “They scored two and it would have been easy for us to say this a good team and we came in second. This is great. But they didn’t. They kept the energy up and they believed they could win. Ava took care of it for us.”
Butler took three pitches for the 3-0 advantage. She decided to swing away on the fourth offering and it sure paid off.
“Oh, it felt so great,” Butler said. “I was super nervous getting into the box before. But I was like, if this pitcher throws me anything on the plate, I have to hit it. And I went yard. I was really excited.”
Miller was extremely proud of the fight her team put up all weekend. Ridge Point led 6-0 after 3½ innings and the Grizzlies never gave up. Butler knocked in the first Grizzlies run in the bottom of the fourth on a fielder’s choice that scored Julia Veilleux.
In the fifth inning, Ella Brown hit a two-run single to make it 6-3. She later stole home to make it 6-4. With two outs, Butler doubled home Jaz Levenston and then the senior scored the tying run on a Larissa Tavares double.
“We weren’t necessarily surprised,” Butler said of winning the tournament. “We knew coming in that we were gonna have to work hard, but we’ve been having some good, hard practices and working really hard. I feel like we had a feeling that we were gonna come in and do really well.”
READ: Butler’s Grand Slam Lifts Grand Oaks To Space City Championship (Feb. 15)
The Grand Oaks Grizzlies pose for a photo after defeating Ridge Point in the Space City Classic championship on Feb. 15, 2025. (Jose Palomo/SportCast Media)
Butler signed in November to play college softball at Lafayette College, an NCAA Division I program in Pennsylvania that competes in the Patriot League.
“Ava is an ultimate team player,” Miller said. “She has come out and this has really been a breakout year for her.”
Having moved from left field to center in the offseason, Miller has seen Butler, who’s been on varsity since sophomore year, take on the responsibility of leading the outfield.
“She had zero errors in left field last year,” Miller said. “But she’s really started speaking up and taking control. She’s been running our outfield and directing kids. She’s like having another coach on the field. There’s a lot of leadership there aside from her physical play.”
As the leadoff hitter, Butler is off to an incredible start to her senior year.
Through seven games, Butler is batting .571 with 13 runs scored, two homers and seven RBIs. In Friday’s wins over Clear Falls and Brandeis, Butler sparked the lineup with a 6-for-7 day.
“She’s really seeing the ball well,” Miller said. “She had a 3-0 count with the bases loaded and just a pitch she couldn’t lay off of to walk off for the championship.”
Butler has also used her wheels on the base paths with six steals.
“She’s also a threat when she gots on the bases,” Miller said. “I think she might be leading the team in steals right now.”
After Butler’s walk-off grand slam, it was a special moment for everyone involved.
“I didn’t even know until after the game when I saw some of the pictures that they had hoisted her on their shoulders,” Miller said. “So that was a really cool team moment that I didn’t even know anything about (at the time).”
Grand Oaks senior Ava Butler (00) is off to a great 2025 season. (Chris Zorzi/SportCast Media)
