Lady Seahawks smash Gordonsville in Class A sectional, 17-0

Silverdale Baptist Academy teammates wait behind home plate for Lindsey Newell (34) to cross with a home run Saturday. The Lady Seahawks are 37-3 after blasting Gordonsville 17-0 in five innings in a Class A state sectional.
Silverdale Baptist Academy teammates wait behind home plate for Lindsey Newell (34) to cross with a home run Saturday. The Lady Seahawks are 37-3 after blasting Gordonsville 17-0 in five innings in a Class A state sectional.

If Tim Couch doesn't have shoulder soreness from his days as a quarterback on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's football team, he may end up developing it as a third-base coach of Silverdale Baptist Academy's softball team. Seemingly all he did Saturday was wave runners home.

The heart of the Silverdale batting order - Taylor Moran, Lindsey Newell and Elise Pearson - combined for some astronomical numbers against Gordonsville, numbers not likely produced by another trio in any other of the TSSAA state sectionals played this weekend. As a result, the host Lady Seahawks coasted to a 17-0 five-inning victory and earned a berth in next week's Class A state tournament.

"It's fun to watch them play," Couch said.

This is the second state-tournament trip for Silverdale (37-3) in its 11th season with a varsity program.

"This is where we thought we'd be last year, and the year before," said Couch, whose last two teams dropped one-run decisions in Region 3 semifinals that ended their seasons. "Unfortunately we had two heartbreaks."

No heartbreaks in postseason in 2016. Instead, SBA has gone 6-0 in the playoffs and has outscored those opponents 75-5.

"I think we're peaking at exactly the right time," Moran said. "We had our ups and downs in the middle of the season. I think everybody is playing their best ball right now."

Technically, the Lady Seahawks had enough to win before No. 3 batter Moran took her first swing. Leadoff batter Ali Birchfield was hit in the helmet by a pitch, was OK and stayed in the game, stole second, then came home on Emily Harkleroad's double.

But it was the power threesome in the middle that over the course of the game went 8-for-10 with 12 RBIs and 10 runs scored. Newell and Pearson were each 3-for-4 with a home run and a double.

Moran was 2-for-2 with a home run and a double and walked in her two other plate appearances. The last was an intentional walk, but the strategy didn't work because Newell then singled in a run and Pearson cleared the fence.

"We don't see too many intentional walks because we have such a solid lineup one through nine," Moran said. "It's hard to pitch around one person."

With all the offense going on - Harkleroad scored three runs and Birchfield scored two and also had an RBI - it could be easy to overlook the pitching. But SBA right-hander Shelby Duggard threw a three-hitter with no walks and 11 strikeouts.

"Her screwball and riseball are her two main pitches," Couch said. "It's just great to hand the ball to a kid or tell her the day before, 'Here's the ball. We need you to be your best,' and that's what you get."

Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him at twitter.com/KelleySmiddie.

Upcoming Events