Nine area softball teams in this year's Spring Fling

Ashley Rogers, shown pitching during last year's TSSAA Class A state softball final, was chosen the Gatorade state player of the year after leading Meigs County to its second consecutive state championship. Behind the hard-throwing right-hander who is headed to Tennessee, the Lady Tigers are back this season playing for the Class AA title.
Ashley Rogers, shown pitching during last year's TSSAA Class A state softball final, was chosen the Gatorade state player of the year after leading Meigs County to its second consecutive state championship. Behind the hard-throwing right-hander who is headed to Tennessee, the Lady Tigers are back this season playing for the Class AA title.

The Chattanooga area's reputation for having high-level girls' fastpitch softball is as old as the TSSAA state tournament itself. And in 2018, the reputation is only being strengthened.

Nine softball teams will represent southeastern Tennessee in Murfreesboro this week at the Spring Fling. Hamilton County is sending six teams in various classifications to the state tournament, and neighboring schools Walker Valley (Class AAA), Meigs County (Class AA) and Whitwell (Class A) have qualified, too.

photo Cheyenne Lindsey is in her fifth season starting for the Baylor softball team, which has qualified for the Division II-AA state tournament each of those years, winning the last three. The Florida signee and speedster has hit five triples and scored 49 runs for this year's Lady Red Raiders.

As the annual five-sport state championship tournament gets underway today, the area is well represented in the other sports as well. Eight tennis teams, six soccer teams and four baseball teams have qualified, as well as dozens of individual athletes in tennis and track and field.

The week's action gets started this morning with tennis, with the Baylor girls in search of their eighth consecutive Division II-AA championship, while the Baylor and Signal Mountain boys are looking to improve on runner-up finishes from a season ago. Baseball and soccer teams begin play this afternoon.

The local softball scene was introduced to the rest of the state in 1979 when East Ridge won the first TSSAA state tournament in Class AAA, clearly the toughest classification for a program to show sustained success, as the records show. No program statewide has won three consecutive titles in AAA. Three have won back-to-back championships in the class, and are all from the Chattanooga area - Hixson (1983-84 and '87-88), Baylor (1993-94) and Soddy-Daisy (1999-2000 and 2006-07).

"Even when that part of the state was dominating the early years of softball, I still don't remember the area having nine teams qualify for the state tournament," TSSAA executive director Bernard Childress said. "It looked like at one point the midstate kind of caught up, and other parts in the East and West were getting competitive. But when I look at that, I can't remember in my 23 years of working for the TSSAA that area sending nine teams. That's amazing."

On March 11, the Times Free Press ran an article highlighting the area's four Southeastern Conference signees. All of them played key roles in helping their teams get to the Fling this year.

"It's defintely flown by," Meigs County pitcher and Tennessee signee Ashley Rogers said of her senior season. "It seems like it started like a month ago."

photo Kayla Boseman has a 21-1 pitching record this softball season and has seemed to ramp up her game since postseason has started. The Mississippi State signee also has the top on-base percentage for the Lady Owls, who this week are in the TSSAA Class AAA state tournament.

Maybe so, but Rogers' statistics make it seem like the season started six months ago. She has a 25-1 pitching record and 324 strikeouts. Compare that to four walks, and her earned run average is 0.10.

"We're expecting things to be a little more difficult than the last couple of years," said Rogers, who helped the Lady Tigers win the last two Class A titles before they moved up. "As a pitcher, I know I can't take a batter off. I feel like we're pretty solid offensively. I've struggled a little lately with my bat, but everyone else has stepped up and helped us get runs. I think we're all working well together."

Mississippi State-bound Kayla Boseman (21-1) has an ERA of a little less than 1 and more than 250 strikeouts for Class AAA Ooltewah while also leading her team in batting. The right-hander said she's spent recent off time working with her father trying to manage effectively the spins on her pitches, and she believes the work is paying off.

The Lady Owls have outscored seven postseason opponents 60-14. In the last three, Boseman has allowed four hits in 19 innings pitched while striking out 43.

"I really think we can win this year," said Boseman, who is in her third state tournament with a previous best finish of third. "Still, we cannot take any team lightly. We can never underestimate a team. Any team can be beaten on any day."

Silverdale Baptist Academy moved from Class A to Division II-A and Tennessee signee Kaili Phillips, who played on a state-tournament runner-up in 2016, has led the Lady Seahawks from the top of the order. She's batting .662 with 16 home runs and has a ton of intentional walks.

"There is a level of frustration," Phillips said of the walks, "but I still feel like I'm helping my team."

photo Kaili Phillips, shown celebrating one of her 16 home runs this season for Silverdale Baptist Academy, is hoping this week for another opportunity to play in a softball state final like she and her teammates did in 2016. The Tennessee-bound Phillips leads her team in every major offensive statistical category this year, including RBIs (48) from the leadoff spot.

That's because she also has stolen 43 bases and scored 61 runs.

"I try to set the table for the next batter up, Savannah Turner," said Phillips, who also has anchored her team's defense at shortstop. "Her bat has been hot."

Another shortstop and leadoff batter this year is Baylor's Cheyenne Lindsey, a Florida signee and varsity starter since eighth grade. Her senior-year highlight was homering over the fence twice in one game. She's making her fifth trip to the Division II-AA tournament, and the Lady Red Raiders have won the last three.

"We have got to minimize mental mistakes," said Lindsey, a .535 batter who is 32-of-34 on stolen bases. "We've got to be mentally tough. Our defense has got to do better. We need to relax. That's the big part."

Seven times in the last eight years the DII-AA state final has come down to Baylor against GPS. The Bruisers, who have a Duke signee in the pitching circle in Shelby Walters, also are back in Murfreesboro.

"I think she's good," Lindsey said of Walters. "I'll give her her props."

The other local teams in Murfreesboro are Division II-A Chattanooga Christian and Class A Sale Creek. The Lady Panthers are coached by local legend Clifford Kirk, whose 10 state titles have all come at Hixson (2) and Soddy-Daisy (8) at the Class AAA level. His legacy is cemented. He's wanting to see Sale Creek get its first state championship - in any sport.

"What he's done for girls' softball is amazing," Childress said. "He's a great coach, and he loves the game. He knows what it takes to develop young ladies to be very competitive. He's proven that wherever he's been."

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

SPRING FLING SCHEDULE

BASEBALL

Class A

South Pittsburg vs. Trinity Christian at Middle Tennessee Christian, 5

Class AA

Grundy County vs. Riverside at Smyrna, 7:30

Division-II AA

Baylor vs. Christian Brothers at Wilson Central, 5

McCallie vs. Memphis US at Wilson Central, 7:30

SOCCER

At Richard Siegel Complex

Class A

Signal Mountain vs. Alcoa on Field #4, 3

Arts & Sciences vs. Columbia Academy on Field #1, 2:30

Class AA

Howard vs. Stratford on Field #4, 8

SOFTBALL

At Sports Complex & McKnight Fields

Class A

Whitwell vs. Summertown on Starplex #4, 5

Sale Creek vs. Houston County on McKnight #3, 6:30

Class AA

Meigs County vs. White House Heritage on Starplex #2, 6:30

Class AAA

Walker Valley vs. Powell on Starplex #1, 5

Division II-A

Chattanooga Christian vs. Knoxville Grace Christian on Starplex #3, 5

Silverdale Baptist Academy vs. Tipton Rosemark on Starplex #3, 6:30

TENNIS

At Adams Tennis Complex

Boys' Team

Small Class

Signal Mountain vs. Trinity Christian, 4

Division II-AA

McCallie vs. Montgomery Bell Academy, 12

Baylor vs. Memphis University School, 12

Girls' Team

Small Class

Signal Mountain vs. Summertown, 2

Division II-A

Chattanooga Christian vs. CAK, 10 a.m.

Division II-AA

Baylor vs. Harpeth Hall, 10 a.m.

GPS vs. Hutchison, 10 a.m.

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