Tori Barnes put the Friday morning loss behind her in a hurry.
The East Hamilton pitcher suffered a 4-2 loss to Central at Warner Park. About 15 minutes later she headed to the concession stand for a fabled Fritos Chili Pie.
"What I like about tournaments is being with the girls and getting to see different teams," the senior said. "And the Frito Pie, in the bag."
Soddy-Daisy is one of three schools hosting a tournament involving area softball teams this weekend. There are 10 area teams playing in the Lady Trojan Invitational, five area teams in the Lady Jacket Invitational at Lookout Valley Elementary School and three area teams in the Ooltewah Classic at the Summit of Softball.
"Tournaments are very beneficial this time of year," Central coach LeeAnne Shurette said. "We're getting to play a lot of games and see teams from out of town.
Soddy-Daisy runner Brooke Hale slides safely home ahead of the tag by Red Bank pitcher Kendall Farr during their Lady Trojan Invitational softball tournament game Friday, April 3, 2015, at Warner Park in Chattanooga."The more you play, you work through being tired, and mental errors too."
The coaches get to manage in game situations. East Hamilton had played just five games this season before Friday. The Lady Hurricanes could end the weekend with 11 games on their ledger by the end of Saturday.
The players get to play. Each of the teams at Warner Park played three games Friday. They also get to hang out. One player in a red jersey hugged a player in a blue jersey as if they hadn't seen each other in a year.
Central pitcher Brooke Parrott exacted a bit of revenge from earlier this season when the Lady Hurricanes scored 12 runs in one inning against her. Parrott, a sophomore, earned the win and struck out three in the six-inning 80-minute timed game.
"They killed the ball off me last time," she said after receiving a small bag of Easter candy like the rest of her teammates. "I stayed calm and focused out there."
Central had the goal of warming up its bats during the tournament. The Lady Purple Pounders scored a run in the second inning on a double by Destiny Payton. They added another on a single by Lexie Ainslie. Their final two runs, in the fifth inning, were delivered by Emma Beach and Tatum Morgan, who went 3-for-3.
"I went up there and found my pitch," Morgan said. "I noticed she'd been getting a first-pitch strike, so I swung at the first one I liked."
Alyssa Strickler and Brie Levy delivered RBI hits for the Lady Hurricanes in their first game of the day.
"This is a great tournament for us," East Hamilton coach Norma Nelson said. "We left way too many runners out there but Tori pitched well. There are reasons to get better, and tournaments help you do that."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.