The Ooltewah softball team photos are scheduled for today.
The players should be all smiles after playing their season opener one week after it was originally scheduled and coming out with a 16-4 win Monday over Hixson.
"It's been hard practicing inside all the time," said infielder Allie Jones, who crushed a game-ending grand slam. "It would have been different if we were able to practice on the field and got that kind of experience.
"It's extremely hard to play an outside sport inside."
Jones swatted her slam in the bottom of the fourth inning to cap a 10-run inning, during which the Lady Owls did not make an out and won by the mercy rule.
"I kind of stunk in my other at-bats, so I wanted to get a hit," Jones said. "I'd been dipping my shoulder, so I adjusted that and wanted to swing at the first one I liked.
"It just happened to be the first pitch I saw."
Hixson starting pitcher Michaela Penney had been erratic all evening. She walked eight and kept catcher Cambree Suprlock working to smother pitches in the dirt or jump for pitches over her head.
Lady Wildcats coach Jayme Miller made a pitching change after Penney allowed nine straight batters to reach base.
Jones, a left-handed batter, saw one pitch and crushed it over the right-field fence. She rounded the bases, touched home plate and then the umpire yelled, "Ballgame!"
Ooltewah infielder Shelby Sutton scored three times, and four other Ooltewah players scored twice. Everybody in the Lady Owls lineup scored at least once.
"Everybody has the rainouts, but I think we were flat early after a good first inning because we want to be able to hit and run," Ooltewah coach Jon Massey said. "But I'm proud of the defense, but tomorrow is a new day."
Today is the second day of a five-games-in-five-days stretch for the Lady Owls. If the weather stays nice, they'll play six games in six days next week, including a tournament at Oak Ridge.
Ooltewah pitcher Cameron Baltimore, in the opinion of Massey, worked her way through challenges and earned the win. He substituted her for Boseman -- who started as the designated player -- in the top of the fourth inning.
"Cameron battled. She threw well and hit her spots at times, but I think she was getting frustrated," Massey said. "I knew Kayla was ready, and this was a nice warm-up for her."
Boseman struck out four batters in her one inning of work, with one batter reaching on a passed-ball third strike.
"My goal is nine pitches, nine strikes per inning," Boseman said. "In a way, it's kind of cool to strike out four in an inning because I don't do that very often."
The first game of the year getting delayed by a full week doesn't happen very often, either -- nor does a walk-off grand slam.
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.