COALMONT, Tenn. — District 7-AA regular-season champion Sequatchie County owned a two-run lead over Bledsoe County heading into the seventh inning of the district tournament’s winners-bracket final. As odd as it seems, Bledsoe’s Lady Warriors had the Lady Indians right where they wanted them.
Top-seeded Sequatchie had not lost to a district opponent all season until Bledsoe rallied for a 6-5 victory Saturday at Grundy County High School.
The Lady Indians will get their chance at payback against Bledsoe (19-8) in Monday’s final starting at 6 EDT. Sequatchie (24-12), which must win twice in the final to be champion, defeated Chattanooga Christian 10-7 in Saturday’s losers-bracket final.
“They wanted it more than we did,” Sequatchie coach Courtney Stewart said of the Lady Warriors, who had lost twice to her team, the second time handily, in the regular season. “Every game is going to be like that from here on. We’ve got to come out and play hard and expect to play a close ballgame. Hopefully today was just an off day. Hopefully it was ‘that day’ and we’re done with it.”
Bledsoe County went into its final at-bat Saturday having already gotten to pitcher Courtney Dawson for eight hits. Jaclyn Saunders and Kayla Reagan were 2-for-3 each before they hit consecutive singles to start the winning rally. Tiffany Holloway, who had doubled in a run in the first and picked up an RBI on a fielder’s choice in the third, then lined a single to load the bases.
Mikayla Richardson’s sacrifice fly moved the Lady Warriors within a run before Treonna Bridgeman delivered a hard-hit single. Runners ended up on third and second after Bridgeman’s RBI hit was midhandled, and Haley Fugate followed with a go-ahead sacrifice fly to center.
“The girls had confidence they could put the ball in play,” Bledsoe coach Janice Ritchie said. “They knew they had to hit the ball to win. They had nothing to lose and laid it all out. This is what we’ve been playing for all year long.”
The Lady Indians’ Jackie Houk and Chelsea Burgess each went 2-for-3. Houk hit a three-run double in the second. The second double by Burgess drove in their other two in the fourth.
Houk continued her torrid day at the plate with a 4-for-4 showing against CCS (9-12) that included another double and four RBIs. Meredith Mitchell went 3-for-5 with two RBIs.
In between Sequatchie’s games, a controversial call went the Lady Chargers’ way in a tie game in the top of the seventh inning in their 6-5 victory over Grundy County (21-12).
CCS’s Sarah Hundley moved from second to third on a fly that was juggled but caught. A throw went to second base and an inning-ending double play was signaled. Coach Emily Pensinger challenged the ruling, claiming the runner could tag and advance upon first touch by a defender, and the call was overturned. The Lady Chargers went on to score three runs, capped by Shelby Morgan’s two-run double, before holding off a Lady Yellow Jackets rally.