Central pitcher Shelby Willard limited Ooltewah to one good scoring opportunity, which went by the wayside, in Thursday’s high school softball game at Central. The Lady Purple Pounders didn’t have many more chances, but they did cash one in.
Raney Jackson’s two-out single in the fifth inning drove in Chasidy Ainslie and lifted Central past the Lady Owls 1-0.
Willard retired the first 11 she faced and struck out the first five on the way to 11 strikeouts. With two out in the fourth, Katelyn Bowen and Abby Daniels lined back-to-back singles to left field, and then a throwing error loaded the bases. After Willard induced a groundout to end the threat, the only other runner she allowed was Kelsey Chernak with a one-out single to center in the sixth.
Ooltewah coach Norma Nelson said she was partly to blame for not having her batters ready for what they were about to see. The Lady Owls were coming off an 18-hit performance, having won their opener 10-3 over Bradley Central.
“We crushed the ball Tuesday,” Nelson said. “The big difference was this was probably 20 miles an hour faster, plus it moved. We didn’t adjust like I wish we would’ve. We’re going to have to.”