The Baylor and Marion County high school softball teams have realistic expectations to make runs at state championships in their respective classifications this year.
In order to prepare for such runs, the two teams squared off Friday on Baylor's campus with a breeze blowing cold air off the Tennessee River.
The final score mattered for a few minutes. Baylor won 5-2. The lessons that both teams learned in the early-season game could carry them to Murfreesboro for the state tournament.
"Especially at this time of year, I'd rather lose by one run than beat a team by 15," Marion County coach Thomas Long said. "You don't get better or improve when you win by 15."
The Lady Red Raiders rallied from a 2-1 deficit with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to win their second game in just as many opportunities.
"We always want to play the most competitive schools, and we love playing Marion because they are a good program," Baylor coach Kelli Smith said. "We want to be playing for state, and by playing good teams, that's how you prepare for the state tournament."
The Lady Raiders are a young and inexperienced team compared to recent seasons. Mari Gardner, a first-year starter in the outfield, delivered the crucial hit in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Gardner crushed a pitch to the left-field fence, resulting in a two-run double and a 4-2 lead for Baylor.
"I had two strikes and I was nervous," Gardner said. "If I didn't get a hit, it would have been embarrassing. I thought it would be caught. We got excited and riled up."
Marion County pitcher Erica O'Kane allowed five hits and one run in her first five innings.
"Erica got a little tired and weary, and this was the first full game of the year that she pitched," Long said. "She worked a wonderful hitting team very well. If she had the offensive support we should have given her early on, we may have had a different end result."
Long, who like almost every coach at this time of the year is looking for improvement, noted that the Lady Warriors went 2-for-8 in bunt situations.
"We've got to do that better," he said. "We have to move runners along.
"I am glad that we're playing as a team and players are substituting and giving up positions for the good of the team."
Marion County reserve Erin O'Leary started a potential big inning with a single in the fourth. She scored on a passed ball. But the Lady Warriors left two runners in scoring position and led only 2-1 after Baylor batted.
"I like to win," said Baylor starting pitcher Cayley Quinn. "I don't like to lose. I like it when I help the offense and they help me."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.