Lady Trojans advance with dramatic rally, 7-6 win

Staff Photo by Doug Strickland/Chattanooga Times Free Press - Gloves lie in a pile in the Lady Trojan Invitational softball tournament Friday, March 29, 2013, in Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.
Staff Photo by Doug Strickland/Chattanooga Times Free Press - Gloves lie in a pile in the Lady Trojan Invitational softball tournament Friday, March 29, 2013, in Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.

Even though they were down by three runs with three outs left in their season, Soddy-Daisy's softball Lady Trojans were confident they would come back and win.

It didn't hurt to ask for a little divine intervention as well, though.

The Lady Trojans scored four runss in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat visiting Warren County 7-6 Monday in a Region 3-AAA semifinal.

"We got our team together and prayed to the bat gods," senior catcher Cameren Swafford said. "It's a team ritual we do before the game. We didn't do it before this game, so we did it before the last inning."

"We just always believe in ourselves," Swafford said. "Yes, we were down three runs in the last inning, but three runs is nothing, and we proved that on the field."

Soddy Daisy (30-3) loaded the bases in the final frame on a leadoff walk by Peri Prestwood and singles by Swafford and Aminah Wood. Back-to-back RBI singles by Haley Harvey and Stephanie Blevins tied the game at 6.

Senior Hailey Woodcock followed with the walk-off single to left field over a drawn-in infield, scoring Harvey from second and setting off a celebration in the middle of the field and in the stands from a packed home crowd.

"It's about them right there, celebrating," Soddy Daisy coach Travis Hale said. "They came back and pulled it out, and I could never be more proud of them."

The Lady Trojans got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the first inning, but the lead didn't last long.

Warren County (15-11) scored one run in the second inning and three in the third on RBI singles by Ashton Whiles and Hope Mullican to take a 4-1 lead. Mullican went 3-for-4 with four RBIs.

Blevins, a sophomore, took over in the circle in the fourth inning for starter Shonna Penney and shut the Lady Pioneers down over the final four innings, earning the win. Blevins struck out three, while giving up three hits, no walks and two unearned runs. She also finished 2-for-3 at the plate.

"It's nerve-racking to come into a game like that," Blevins said. "This means a lot. Moving forward we know that even if we get down like that we're going to come back."

For Swafford, wins like this are even sweeter as she gets to wear the Lady Trojans uniform again.

"This is not my usual jersey number," Swafford said. "I didn't want to go out not getting to wear the number I've always worn."

The Lady Trojans will host old rival Ooltewah on Wednesday in the region championship game. It's set to start at 6 p.m.

Contact Kevin Llewallyn at sports@timesfreepress.com.

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