MANCHESTER, Tenn. - In Wednesday night's pitcher's duel, Coffee County's catcher did more than crouch behind home plate.
The Lady Raiders' Chelsea Howell drove in left fielder Juli Layne with a single in the bottom of the eighth to defeat Soddy-Daisy 1-0 in the Region 3-AAA high school softball final.
The Lady Raiders will host nationally-ranked Riverdale (43-3), which lost 5-1 to Lawrence County in the Region 4 final for its first loss to a Tennessee team this season, in a state sectional Friday at 8 p.m. EDT. Soddy-Daisy travels to Lawrence County. Winners advance to next week's state tournament in Murfreesboro.
It was Howell's second hit of the night, but for most of the night, she and Trojan catcher Morgan Bailey generally directed a well-pitched game.
Still, Howell's hit was the highlight of her - and her team's - night.
"It helps having a really good pitcher who can shut the other team down," Howell said. "But it feels amazing."
Most of the night belonged to the pitchers, Kelsey Nunley for Soddy-Daisy and Casey Vincent for Coffee County.
Vincent earned the win, throwing all eight innings, while striking out eight and allowing four hits. Nunleythrew a six-hitter and struck out eight.
The Lady Trojans had their chances, stranding runners in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. They also made mental errors, getting picked off on three occasions - twice in the final two innings.
"We made a couple of mistakes, two really bad, getting picked off in scoring position. And there were some missed bunts," Soddy-Daisy coach Clifford Kirk said. "But we're young. We start four sophomores and two freshmen. If we can get by Friday we can still make a good showing and get to state."
With the win, Coffee County avenged a 3-0 loss to Soddy Daisy in last year's region final.