If Friendship Christian Academy continues to improve the way it did this weekend at The Summit of Softball Complex in the Ooltewah Invitational, the other TSSAA Division II-A teams should be put on notice.
The Commanders won all six of their tournament games, capping their run with a 12-3 four-inning victory over the host Lady Owls in the Gold championship game.
One of Ooltewah’s District 5-AAA competitors, McMinn County, won the Silver bracket, beating Sequoyah 7-2 in four innings in that final.
Both Gold finalists rallied to win their semifinals, Ooltewah (20-4) getting a walk-off home run from Kayla Boseman to beat Meigs County and FCA (17-3) battling back against Silverdale Baptist Academy. Boseman’s next at-bat was again a home run – a drive to left-center after Shelby Sutton’s double in the top of the first inning against the Commanders that was followed by another home run by Aubbie Collake.
But seemingly unaffected, FCA struck back with two home runs of its own in the first inning. Brice Dabbs tied it with a three-run blast, and with one out Courtney Miles’ solo shot put the Commanders ahead.
“They got up 3-0 but our attitude was ‘Let’s have fun. We have one more game today,'” FCA coach Jody Atwood said. “I was proud, especially in the first inning the way we reacted with our bats. They scored three and we came in and got four.”
Winning pitcher Courtney Perry, who gave up a walk and five hits, got three of her eight strikeouts in succession in the top of the second before the Commanders came in and tacked on an unearned run. They blew things open in the third, parlaying four hits, including a home run by Brooke Eakes, with three Lady Owls errors for a seven-run inning.
“We didn’t play well,” Ooltewah coach Jon Massey said of his team’s performance in the final. “We looked like an uninspired team. We didn’t make the routine plays like we usually do.
“We played really well up until then. The last game kind of put a stinker on the whole weekend.”
Dabbs and Miles were each 3-for-3 for the Commanders with Dabbs driving in five runs. Miles and Eakes, who was 2-for-3, totaled three RBIs apiece.
“We relaxed and played,” Atwood said. “We came down here really with no expectations, other than to get better. I think we accomplished that.
“We don’t want to play our best right now in April. We want to be playing our best in May. But no question this was a great field. Ooltewah put on a great tournament. We’re honored to be here, and honored we played well.”
Contact Kelley Smiddie at sports@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.