Tuesday was senior day for Ooltewah High School's softball team, and its two seniors did contribute offensively in a District 5-AAA victory over neighboring rival East Hamilton. But so did just about everyone else in the Lady Owls' lineup.
That combined with the four-hit pitching of freshman right-hander Kayla Boseman as Ooltewah defeated the Lady Hurricanes 10-2.
The Lady Owls are now 6-2 in the district and remain a game behind Walker Valley in the loss column. The Lady Mustangs split their two games with Ooltewah and were 6-1 and in first place heading into Tuesday's district game at Cleveland.
"We're at a point now where every game is kind of a must win," said Ooltewah coach Jon Massey, whose team has four district games remaining in the next week and a half. "We can't let our guard down. I hope they know we've got to play with fire every play of every inning."
The Lady Owls got things going their way against East Hamilton (4-4 5-AAA) with a four-run first inning. Mabry Carpenter, who went 3-for-3, drove in three runs and scored three, capped the early rally with a two-run home run.
"They're good," East Hamilton coach Norma Nelson said of the Lady Owls. "They can pitch it. They can hit it. That's what you've got to have.
"We've been down several times but we just don't give up. We keep working hard and keep going."
Brie Levy, who later hit a sacrifice fly, homered to center in the fourth to pull the Lady 'Canes within 4-1. But Ooltewah responded with an unearned run in the bottom of the inning followed by a five-run fifth, which included East Hamilton's third error of the game.
"Our defense is just not where I thought it would be," said Nelson, in her second season at East Hamilton after spending 25 years as a coach at Ooltewah. "We probably haven't practiced 10 times outside. But neither has anyone else."
One Lady Owls senior is Allie Jones, who doubled and scored in the first and scored again after reaching on an error in the fifth. The other is Cameron Baltimore, who singled in a run in the fifth.
"They've been here before I have," said Massey, who replaced Nelson. "We're trying to instill a team mentality. They're on board with whatever it takes to win."
Shelby Sutton went 3-for-4 with two doubles and scored twice for the Lady Owls. Aubie Collake's double drove in their first two runs.
Boseman totaled 11 strikeouts and also contributed an RBI infield single. She walked one and hit one.
Tori Barnes was 2-for-3 with a triple for the Lady 'Canes.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at sports@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/KelleySmiddie.