With his team locked in a scoreless tie with District 5-AAA rival Ooltewah, Soddy-Daisy High School softball coach Clifford Kirk was showing no frustration despite seeing a couple of scoring opportunities go awry.
The veteran coach knew, after all, the other team can’t win if it can’t score. With senior ace Kelsey Nunley pitching another masterpiece, the Lady Trojans scrapped for two fourth-inning runs on Jessica Boles’ two-out single and held on for a 2-0 win.
The victory puts Soddy-Daisy (23-2-1, 6-0) two games up on Ooltewah (15-7, 5-2) with two league games remaining.
“I think we’re in good shape,” Kirk said. “With the young kids we have we’re doing well, especially defensively. Now, we’re not hitting the ball as well as I would like, but we know if Kelsey is throwing well and we do the things offensively we need to do, we’re going to win.”
Nunley and Ooltewah pitcher Taylor Baird matched zeros through three innings, each taking advantage of a generous outside strike zone. The Lady Trojans’ rally began in the fourth with Haley Reynolds’ one-out single. Hannah Smith walked and Savannah Moore singled to lead the bases. Baird retired Lauren Smith on a pop-up, but Noles lined a 1-0 pitch to center field for the game’s only runs.