MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Ooltewah had a hard road to get here, and there were some who questioned the Lady Owls' ability.
After winning District 5-AAA's regular-season championship, they finished runners-up in both the district tournament and the region. They then went on the road to win their ride to the Spring Fling.
The ride came to an end Thursday with a 3-1 loss to Henry County in an elimination game.
"We played well when we needed to, and we had a great year. We won 33 games and lost 10, but the 10th is the one that put us out," Ooltewah coach Jon Massey said. "It was hard to get here, but once we did we needed to relax and just go hard."
The Lady Owls matched their opponents Thursday with six hits but were unable to capitalize on three Henry County errors or runners in scoring position.
"We just didn't get the timely hit when needed," Massey said. "We're not happy, but we're not alone. Only one (AAA) team is going to be happy tomorrow afternoon.
Addy Keylon, who scored the Ooltewah run, was one of four Lady Owls going 1-for-3 in the game, joining Tiera Lemon, Kayla Boseman and Ally Chernak.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter @wardgossett.