Adrenaline could take Ooltewah only so far Wednesday.
The Lady Owls had played 15 innings of softball Tuesday, gutting out the last 10, while Soddy-Daisy, their opponent in the District 5-AAA high school final, practiced. Once Ooltewah lost its slim lead over the Lady Trojans, it lost momentum and eventually lost 11-1 in five innings.
Soddy-Daisy (45-2), rated No. 13 in the ESPN Rise FAB 50 national rankings and No. 14 in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25, will host the District 6-AAA runner-up at Soddy Lake Kids’ Park in one of Monday’s Region 3 semifinals at 7 p.m. Ooltewah (28-12) will play at the District 6 champion.
The final began with Jessica Morgan registering a bunt single on the game’s first pitch. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third on a groundout before scoring on Abby Daniels’ infield hit.
“They came out ready to play,” Soddy-Daisy coach Clifford Kirk said. “They were focused. We weren’t focused. We weren’t as high as we’ve been in the past.”
Then everything changed in the bottom of the third. As if it isn’t tough enough to beat a nationally-ranked team, which the Lady Owls did when they edged Soddy-Daisy 1-0 in the Brentwood High Invitational in March, without making errors, Ooltewah made two on one play that inning when the Lady Trojans scored three runs.
They added three more in the fourth and five in the fifth and final inning. In all the Lady Owls made five errors. Soddy-Daisy made none.
“It seemed like one thing happened, then it just kept on growing,” Nelson said. “When you have to throw it down the middle, a team that hits that well is going to hit it.”
The Lady Trojans were 12 for their last 21 in the game and also drew six walks against two Ooltewah pitchers in that stretch. Apparently a reminder at practice the day before proved beneficial.
“We knew they were going to throw us outside a lot,” Kirk said. “We tried to stay off those pitches until we got something we could hit. We made them throw a lot of pitches.”
Cassidy Hackney was 3-for-3 with a triple, an RBI and three runs scored. Alex Everett, who scored twice, and Mariam Wood each had two singles and two RBIs. Brooke Ward hit a two-run double.
Daniels went 2-for-2 for the Lady Owls and Morgan finished 2-for-3.