Although Chattanooga State has been a virtual fixture in the NJCAA Division I softball tournament for more than two decades, won the championship in 2012 and more recently finished third in 2014 and 2015, only head coach Blythe Golden from this year's Lady Tigers has been there.
Golden coached Chattanooga State in those last two visits to St. George, Utah, and previously was an assistant coach there with Gulf Coast State from Panama City, Fla. She was the catcher on a Gulf Coast State team that finished second in the national tournament one of the years it was held in Florida - her two-run home run beat Chatt State in the losers-bracket final.
Golden's 2017 Lady Tigers are back in St. George and are scheduled to play San Jacinto-South from Texas at 9 p.m. EDT Wednesday in the 16-team tournament. Chattanooga State is 44-11 and seeded 10th and San Jac South is the No. 7 seed at 41-19.
Alabama got two teams in the tournament after playoffs with South Carolina's top two, and Snead State at 30-39 got in as the 16th seed with Wallace State-Hanceville 12th at 41-19.
Chattanooga State had a good practice in St. George on Monday, Golden said by phone.
"We're trying to get acclimated to the climate, the altitude, the dryness, the allergies," she said. "The main thing is the dryness."
About San Jac South, she said, "They have a really good pitcher who's thrown close to 250 innings with strikeouts in the 270s. But we faced her early last year, in February, and beat her 10-2. Hopefully that's a good omen for us."
Chattanooga State played a bunch of freshmen in 2016 and fell just short of a trip to Utah, finishing as Region VII runner-up. This year the Lady Tigers were regular-season runners-up after going just 1-3 against Walters State in the final series, but they got back at the Lady Senators in taking two of three in their meetings in the state/region tournament at Gallatin.
"We knew we were better all-around. We just kept telling ourselves we're better and we've got to work together," sophomore center fielder and leadoff batter Colbie Thomas from Northwest Whitfield High School said Monday. "We knew we'd see them at conference, and we knew it would be a battle, but we believed we were better and wanted to show it."
Classmate Devan Brown, the superb third baseman from Ringgold High, agreed with Thomas about that and added that "we went into those games timid" in the regular-season series against Walters.
Also agreeing with Thomas that not winning the region in 2016 was a motivation for the sophomores in particular this season, Brown said she holds herself accountable as the emotional leader of the team.
"I think every part of our team is solid. I don't think we have one weak member," she added. "Last year we had only one key pitcher, but this year we have a good pitching staff, a good infield and a good outfield - everything falling in place."
The leader of the pitching staff and lineup has been Kaleigh Wynne from Knoxville's Hardin Valley High. She pitched all three tournament games against Walters and is 20-4 for the season with three saves, a 1.61 earned run average and 160 strikeouts in 143 2/3 innings. She's batting .491 with 23 home runs, 14 doubles, 84 RBIs and 58 runs scored.
Asked which she prefers, hitting or pitching, she quickly said, "Hitting, definitely." But then she added, "It depends on the situation. I like being in a key role. I've kind of been in that situation my whole life."
Thomas is batting .423 with 20 stolen bases and 57 runs, Brown is hitting .399 with 11 homers, 56 RBIs and 46 runs, 5rand fellow sophomore starters Alaeni Ray, Lillie McCrary, Madison Kurtz, Jennah McElheney amd Courtney Condon are batting .417, .370, .341, .326 and .319. First baseman McCrary from Pisgah, Ala., has 12 homers and 46 RBIs and has scored 48 runs. Ray has crossed the plate 46 times.
Freshman pitchers Abbey White and Abby Hicks are 11-2 and 9-3 with 2.46 and 2.73 ERAs in 91 and 85 innings.
Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.