MURFREESBORO, Tenn.-Beech was one out away Thursday from heading to the losers bracket in the TSSAA Class AAA softball tournament. Instead, the Lady Buccaneers are one victory away from winning the championship.
Heather Montgomery’s walk-off, bases-loaded double lifted the Lady Bucs past Soddy-Daisy 2-1 in the winners-bracket final at Starplex No. 1.
Soddy-Daisy (40-8) will play Riverdale (47-4), ranked No. 10 in the NFCA/USA Today Top 25, in the losers-bracket final at 11 a.m. EDT. The winner will face Beech (41-11-2) in the final at 7:30 p.m.
With runners at third and second and none out in the bottom of the seventh, Beech No. 7 batter Taylor Hayden came to bat. Soddy-Daisy coach Clifford Kirk said he thought the Lady Bucs might squeeze bunt. The Beech coaches said they thought Kirk was thinking they might squeeze. Instead Hayden was hit by a pitch that would’ve been ball four, and that loaded the bases.
Pitcher Kelsey Nunley looked like she might work out of trouble after back-to-back strikeouts, but then up came the Lady Bucs’ leadoff batter.