Ooltewah rolls 12-0 behind Kayla Boseman's no-hitter [photos]

Ooltewah's Lady Owls, in all red, and Cookeville's Lady Cavaliers await the playing of the national anthem before their Region 3-AAA softball semifinal Monday at Ooltewah. The Lady Owls won 12-0.
Ooltewah's Lady Owls, in all red, and Cookeville's Lady Cavaliers await the playing of the national anthem before their Region 3-AAA softball semifinal Monday at Ooltewah. The Lady Owls won 12-0.

If the first three innings of Monday's Region 3-AAA high school softball semifinal at Ooltewah are any indication, the Lady Owls aren't just talking about being focused this postseason. They look it.

With an offense equally as dominant as Kayla Boseman's pitching performance, Ooltewah defeated Cookeville 12-0 in five innings.

Ooltewah (34-6) next hosts Walker Valley in the region final scheduled Wednesday at 6 p.m.

"We know what we both do well," said Ooltewah coach Jon Massey, whose team will be facing its fellow District 5 member for the fifth time this season and fourth since April 14 - the Lady Mustangs' only win over the Lady Owls. "They've seen us; we've seen them. There aren't any complete surprises. We're just going to go play. Execution will be big. We've got to get a bunt down when it's time to get a bunt down."

Massey gave a bunt sign to No. 2 batter Ally Chernak after Addy Keylon had walked leading off the bottom of the first inning against Cookeville. After Chernak fouled off the bunt, Massey let her hit away and she lined a double into the left-center-field gap to plate the only run Boseman needed.

Both Massey and catcher Cheyanne Sales said Boseman's stuff looked good in warmups, and no surprise it carried over to the game. The senior right-hander struck out the first 10 on the way to pitching a no-hitter with two walks and 13 strikeouts.

"Her spins were good," Sales said. "She had very good speed. I knew she was going to do well."

After their two-run first, the Lady Owls then scored five runs in back-to-back innings. Sales punctuated the first of those with a three-run double to right-center.

"I wasn't really focusing on the gap in the outfield, but I saw it," Sales said. "I just knew there were two outs, so I was just focusing in on trying to make good contact and get some runs in."

Ooltewah did all of its damage on eight hits. The Lady Cavs did not make an error, but the Lady Owls worked two Cookeville pitchers for seven walks and two were hit by pitches. And best illustrated by No. 9 batter Marissa Forrester, who had a two-run single and scored twice, Ooltewah spoiled several pitcher's pitches, fouling them off while looking for better ones.

"We were ready to go," Massey said. "We scored a couple of runs early. I'm really proud of our six, seven, eight, nine batters. Sometimes it's not how hard you hit them but where you hit them. We had some nicely placed balls. A couple of them we hit hard, but a couple of them we hit where they weren't."

Chernak ended up 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Sales was 2-for-3 with four RBIs. Tyler Sullivan, part of the bottom half of the lineup Massey referrenced where the starters combined to go 4-for-6 with three RBIs and six runs scored, was 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run.

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

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