Considering the team that handed them their second and most recent loss this high school softball season is from a different state, Soddy-Daisy’s Lady Trojans could’ve been in for a long wait before getting the chance at payback. Instead, they had to wait only one day.
Soddy-Daisy had things going its way from the start of Saturday’s Gold bracket championship game in Ooltewah’s Lady Owls Choo Choo Classic, then ended up having to withstand a furious late rally by Bob Jones but held on for a 5-4 victory at the Summit of Softball Complex.
“We actually thought that if we could get through, we’d be looking at them one more time,” Soddy-Daisy coach Clifford Kirk said of the Patriots, who are ranked No. 3 in Class 6A in Alabama. The team from the Huntsville area beat the Lady Trojans 2-0 on Friday. “They’re a good team. Otherwise they wouldn’t be where they are.”
Much as it did in Soddy-Daisy’s Lady Trojan Invitational in late March, Sequatchie County ended up in the Silver bracket and won it. The Lady Indians beat Hixson 6-2.
Soddy-Daisy (37-2), ranked No. 25 nationally in the ESPN Rise FAB 50, went up 5-0 on Brooke Ward’s RBI single in the top of the sixth.
The Patriots then got three consecutive singles and a walk to start the bottom half. With two out Amanda Carden singled in a run, and another scored when the hit was misplayed. The threat ended with the tying run on second when first baseman Mariam Wood stretched and caught Kay Blackmore’s line drive.
“Strange things can happen and we had a few pitches that weren’t getting to where they were supposed to be. That’s a lot of pressure to put on some young kid,” Kirk said of sophomore right-hander and winning pitcher Kelsey Nunley. “I thought she worked through it.”
The first six Lady Trojans batters reached base safely, beginning with Ward’s single up the middle. Speedster Cassidy Hackney then hit a comebacker to Nicole Bordowski, who turned and considered throwing to second. That was all Hackney needed to beat out a fielder’s choice.
Alex Everett grounded a single through the right side that scored Ward, and the runners moved to second and third when the throw home skipped away. Kali Henderson and Brandi Lasley followed with run-scoring hits — Lasley’s a double that led to Bordowski’s departure. Henderson homered leading off the third.
“The quick start helped us,” Kirk said. “Then we just kind of laid back and went through the motions. But it helped that we came out ready to play.”
Catcher Taylor Wilson was a defensive standout for the Lady Trojans. She made a difficult catch of a foul pop near the backstop in the fifth and had two assists, including throwing out Bob Jones’ speedy leadoff batter attempting a steal in the seventh.
Sequatchie County (20-7) went ahead of Hixson with a run in the bottom of the fifth and had a three-run rally going in the sixth when the time limit ran out. Chelsey Tabor, who had hit a solo home run earlier, followed Meredith Mitchell’s RBI double with a two-run single, and then the game ended.
Close losses to Bob Jones and Grace Academy left the Lady Indians 0-for-pool play in the two local tournaments. They beat Rhea County and Jefferson County in their quarterfinal and semifinal Saturday.
“I’m glad we get it together when single-elimination starts,” Sequatchie coach Courtney Stewart said. “We were able to put hits together and didn’t leave a lot stranded on base.”
Courtney Dawson (13-1), who homered twice against Rhea, was the winning pitcher in the final. Brianna Byerley’s RBI double and Sam McNabb’s run-scoring single were among the Lady Wildcats’ three hits.