Ooltewah High School softball pitcher Taylor Baird apparently followed the advice offered by Lady Owls coach Norma Nelson in the fifth inning Tuesday. And apparently it made no difference to Soddy-Daisy’s Savannah Moore.
Moore’s two-run home run broke a scoreless tie and got the Lady Trojans started toward a 7-1 victory in the District 5-AAA game at Ooltewah.
Moore, new to the cleanup spot in Soddy-Daisy’s order this year, came up with leadoff batter Cassidy Hackney on second base with two out in the top of the fifth. Hackney was on base four times, including with a double and a single, but that inning she had reached on an error.
Before Moore stepped in the batter’s box, Nelson called time out for a conference in the pitching circle. As soon as she returned to the dugout, Baird threw a pitch toward catcher Abby Daniels that Moore lined over the fence in left field.
“I told her, ‘I think this is their best hitter. Don’t give her anything to hit,'” Nelson exasperatingly said she told Baird. She then withdrew and added, “Abby said it wasn’t a bad pitch.