CLEVELAND, Tenn. - The TSSAA District 5-AAA softball tournament proved to be a coming-out party of sorts for one of Soddy-Daisy's Lady Trojans. For one of her teammates, it was just another party.
Second-seeded Soddy-Daisy walked away Wednesday from Walker Valley with the district-championship hardware after defeating regular-season champion Ooltewah 4-2. But the Lady Trojans may not have done so if not for the efforts by sophomore pitcher Stephanie Blevins and junior shortstop Alexis Trimiar.
Soddy-Daisy (30-13) and Ooltewah (30-7) move on to Region 3 semifinals scheduled for Monday. The Lady Trojans will play at home, while the Lady Owls will travel. Because the District 6 tournament has not yet been completed, neither team's opponent has been determined.
Blevins may have been the lesser known of the pitchers on Soddy-Daisy's staff coming into the season, but she put together some admirable postseason performances, culminating with her getting the pitching win Wednesday.
The right-hander allowed seven hits and hit one batter while striking out two. She also issued six walks, one intentional, against the Lady Owls' tough lineup, but the only earned run she gave up was when Cheyenne Sales led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run.
"She was hitting her spots," Soddy-Daisy coach Travis Hale said. "She was dead on. Getting ahead of batters helps. That gave her a couple of waste pitches to try to get them to chase."
Blevins was also aided by her defense, specifically three-year starter Trimiar. She made two nearly identical snags of line drives, diving to her right and plucking the ball at the top of the infield dirt. One was with the bases loaded and one out in the fourth, the other with two on and two out in the sixth.
"What about those plays? Incredible," Hale said of Trimiar, who also doubled in the go-ahead run in the fourth and later made it 3-1 by scoring on one of Cameren Swafford's three singles. "Two line drives she caught, and with the sun blaring down in her eyes. I don't know how she saw the ball."
Ooltewah coach Jon Massey pitched sophomore Mackenzie Patterson, noting that ace Kayla Boseman, who played first base, had been banged up lately and wasn't 100 percent. Patterson matched Blevins in one area - damage control. The Lady Trojans left 13 on base. Ooltewah stranded 12.
"We left too many on," Massey said. "We couldn't get the big hit. Their shortstop, give her credit. She made a couple of really, really nice plays. Mackenzie did a great job. If you would've told me before the game she'd give up four runs in seven innings, that tells me we've got a chance."
Peri Prestwood was 2-for-3 with a triple and scored twice for Soddy-Daisy.
Sales and Ally Chernak had two hits apiece for the Lady Owls.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.