Norma Nelson had two words for her East Hamilton softball team after Thursday’s thrilling 3-2 victory at Soddy-Daisy: District champs.
“That’s what I told them. We are the district regular-season champions,” Nelson, the coach of the Lady Hurricanes for a decade, said after a wild finish to secure the District 6-AAA title. “If you go back and look, it has been a long time since we won up here. I am extremely happy and proud of my girls.”
For the first time since May 1, 2014, East Hamilton beat the Lady Trojans at Clifford Kirk Stadium. The victory ended a seven-game road skid to the powerhouse program with 17 state tournament appearances and eight state titles.
Ashlyn Watkins could hardly believe the final result. East Hamilton’s junior starting pitcher went the distance, allowing a pair of homers while displaying impressive control with no walks in an 83-pitch performance.
East Hamilton (11-2, 5-0) caught a break in the bottom of the seventh as a no-pitch call was given seconds before Adasyn Wilkey hit a double that would have put runners at second and third with no outs for Soddy-Daisy (6-2, 4-1). The second base umpire had called a no-pitch as the home plate umpire tried stepping out of the box before the pitch.