Soddy-Daisy shortstop Taylor Dalton took a shot in the sixth inning that left a serious strawberry on his left collarbone. The resulting carom allowed a Cookeville baserunner to reach base, and the visiting Cavaliers tied the Region 3-AAA baseball semifinal.
Determined to make amends for failing to field the rocket that hit a pebble and screamed into his chest, Dalton killed a one-out, bases-loaded threat by starting a double play in the top of the seventh.
“I was just backing up our pitcher, Ryan Johnson,” Dalton said. “He is great at getting ground balls.”
He then came through in the bottom of the inning with a winning single to right field as he and the Trojans advanced to the region championship game with a 4-3 victory.
Johnson, pitching in relief, picked up the win.
The Trojans, who got their 30th win in 35 games are just glad to advance. They’ll either play Coffee County on the road or Walker Valley at home.
“I probably don’t give these guys enough credit. I have preached to them all year about working hard and staying humble,” Soddy-Daisy coach Jared Hensley said. “It’s always been ‘never give up’ with us. We had a couple of bonehead plays, but we came back from those. We told the guys yesterday that you don’t miss opportunities; people take them away from you.
“These kids earned this win and they deserved it.”
The win overshadowed a four-hit performance by burly Cookeville pitcher Ross Spurgon, but Soddy-Daisy’s hits came in timely fashion.
Colby Harman put Cookeville ahead 1-0 in the first with the first of two home runs, but Trojans catcher Damien DeMatteo answered with a three-run shot in the bottom of the fourth.
Cookeville tied it in the top of the sixth, setting the stage for heroics from Chris Fowlkes and Dalton.
With one out, Fowlkes used seven pitches to work a 3-2 count and then walked.
“People might have been expecting a home run, but not me. I just wanted to keep the train rolling,” he said.
Dalton, who had a big home run in a District 6 game against Bradley Central, took Spurgon’s first offering, a curve, for ball one and then let a fastball on the outside corner slide past.
“I might have swung at it, but Chris was stealing,” Dalton said.
The second-base swipe set the table and Dalton got his fill on the next pitch, lining a fastball to right for the game-ending RBI.
“We have been through adversity at times this year, and I never thought we were in trouble,” Fowlkes said.