Having coached two Hixson teams and eight Soddy-Daisy teams to TSSAA Class AAA softball state championships in his career, Clifford Kirk is no stranger to having postseason success. But the veteran coach admitted when he saw his 2015 Sale Creek team for the first time, he didn't expect that he and his Lady Panthers would be heading to a state sectional.
But by winning 5-4 in a Region 3-A semifinal Tuesday at Silverdale Baptist Academy, Sale Creek will get the opportunity to play today for the region championship and, win or lose, will be somewhere Friday playing for the opportunity to advance to the state tournament.
"I had eight eighth-graders and some other kids who were really inexperienced," Kirk said. "They worked hard."
Sale Creek (18-13) will play today at 6 at Marion County, which beat the Lady Panthers 10-0 in six innings in the District 6 final last Thursday.
"Marion County has got a real good team," Kirk said. "If you make a few errors, they'll get a few hits and they'll jump all over you."
It was the Lady Panthers who struck first against Silverdale, and in more ways than one. They struck for a first-inning run when Kristen Sharp walked with the bases loaded.
But one of the reasons the bases were loaded was because Kaleigh Cooper's line drive struck pitcher Taylor Moran in the back of her glove hand and resulted in an infield single. Moran finished the half inning, even making an out tag at home of a runner trying to score on a pitch that ended up going to the backstop, but could not continue afterward.
Moran's hand was iced, placed in a splint. Freshman Shelby Duggard, a transfer from East Hamilton who became eligible at Silverdale on May 4, pitched the rest of the game.
"We always try to get three pitchers ready," SBA coach Tim Couch said of pregame preparations. "But we didn't know that was going to happen to Taylor. Shelby pitched well. Taylor not being at the plate, that stung a little bit. Not having her in the lineup changes things."
Two batters combined to go 0-for-4 in the cleanup spot Moran originally occupied. In all, 11 Lady Seahawks were left on base.
"We left way too many runners on base," Couch said. "We missed our opportunities."
Silverdale led 3-1 after three innings, but a three-run fourth gave the Lady Panthers the lead for good. Hannah Holland singled in a run before Mary Vandergriff doubled in one, and another scored when Vandergriff's hit was misplayed near the fence.
Cooper went 3-for-4 with a run scored for Sale Creek, which also had a player come out when second baseman Taylor Day hurt her knee in a collision in right field in the third inning. Kirk said it's questionable whether she will play today.
Holland was 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored, and Vandergriff was also 2-for-3. McKenna Morgan was the winning pitcher.
Emily Harkleroad went 3-for-4 with an RBI for SBA, which last week won the District 5 tournament for the first time. Duggard and Elise Pearson were each 2-for-4 with a double, with Duggard driving in a run and Pearson scoring one.
"We had a good year," said Couch, whose wounded team at the end wound up 21-6-1. "It's not the way we wanted to end up. Our only goal at the beginning of the year was to win the district championship. Then we made other goals, starting with winning this game. I hate it for our seniors to go out like that."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at sports@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/KelleySmiddie.