Freshman Madison Tidmore is one of many offensive threats for the 12th-ranked Chattanooga State softball team, which is hosting the TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII tournament this week. She's batting .368 and is 41-of-41 on stolen-base tries.Being 48-10 and ranked No. 12 in the country is nice for the Chattanooga State softball team, but that really means nothing this week in the TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII tournament.
Even the 35-game win streak the Lady Tigers took into the final weekend of the regular season is of no value now, perhaps except psychologically. That also goes for the program's many region titles and trips to the national tournament, including last spring.
Since this tournament is being played at Chattanooga State, the Lady Tigers' 24-1 home record in 2018 suggests an advantage, along with their 31-3 league record, but it takes only two losses Monday through Wednesday to end their season.
"It's all null and void," coach Blythe Golden said of the regular season. "And I think the team understands that. The players know we have to take the tournament one game at a time. Win and advance."
As Chattanooga State baseball coach Greg Dennis said about the other diamond tournament starting at his and Golden's school today, "Everybody's 0-and-0 now."
That goes even for the Walters State baseball team (50-6, 23-3), which is ranked No. 1 in all of NJCAA Division I. There are no at-large bids to the Junior College World Series, so the Senators have to finish ahead of all their TCCAA rivals again this week and then win two of three games at the Georgia champion's field to get to Grand Junction, Colo. And the top seven TCCAA teams are at least 12 games over .500.
"Walters State certainly has played well the most consistently of any team in the league, but they have struggled with some teams," Dennis said Friday. "Realistically I think there are three, maybe four teams with the depth to make a run (at the tournament title). The rest of us have to have things kind of fall right."
His young Tigers (32-19, 11-15) are seeded seventh and face Roane State (10-32, 2-24) at 3 p.m. today in a play-in to the double-elimination part of the tournament. Chattanooga State won three shutouts March 9-10 at Roane, but Dennis greatly respects Raiders pitcher Ronnie Engleman and reminded, "You've still got to go play."
Not so fresh
The Tigers have all new players from last year and almost all freshmen but were near the top of the standings for a good chunk of the season. Losing their top pitcher, Conner Perry, to injury in mid-March helped lead to a mild slide.
"I'd like to be a little higher, but we've done fine. We're probably where we should be after losing Conner," Dennis assessed. "We started off really well, but then the grind got to us. Counting the fall, this is a lot of baseball for those freshmen."
Center fielder Sean Cheely is hitting .381 with 31 stolen bases, 40 runs scored and 30 batted in but hurt his knee last weekend and won't be as fast even if he is able to play today. Jordan Power is 7-3 with a 3.64 earned run average and 81 strikeouts in 66 2/3 innings pitched.
If the Tigers win, they will play second-seeded Motlow State (37-16, 18-8) on Monday night. The Bucks' Troy Weatherly has a .385 batting average, 23 homers, 62 RBIs and 59 runs.
Fifth seed Cleveland State (36-17, 14-12) plays Monday's first baseball game at 10 a.m. against fourth seed Dyersburg State (33-14, 16-10).
"Dyersburg is a very good team and last year's tournament winner," Cougars coach Mike Policastro said in a Cleveland State release. "We know we will have to play well against them to have a chance.
"A double-elimination (tournament) really taxes your pitching staff, with nine-inning games each day," Policastro said. "If you have to get into the bullpen early, it really puts a burden on the whole pitching staff."
Cougars left-handers Hooper Mills and Ryan Inches are 8-3 and 6-2 while Jackson Etter is 8-0 and fellow righty Greg Tye is 6-0 with a league-high seven saves. Their catcher, Hunter Oliver, is among the TCCAA leaders with a .416 batting average, 16 homers, 61 RBIs and 55 runs, while Logan Peterson is hitting .405 with 47 RBIs and 45 runs. Trey Vanderpool has 17 steals and a .375 average.
Wynne win pattern
Golden did admit that pitching depth is one advantage her Lady Tigers have over the other softball teams if they did drop into the losers bracket. They open tourney play Monday at 10 a.m. against Jackson State or Roane and would play again at 5:30 with a win or 8 p.m. with a loss.
"We've been throwing four different kids all year, and they've been doing a really good job for us," she said, citing Abby Hicks and Morgan Marshall along with 2017 All-American Kaleigh Wynne and sophomore lefty Jenna Edwards.
Wynne tops the TCCAA with a 21-2 record - Casey Gilbert from second-seeded Walters shares the wins high at 21-5 - a 1.47 earned run average and 8.69 strikeouts per seven innings. She has pitched 143 1/3 innings while Edwards has 143 2/3 and is 17-5 with a 2.39 ERA and 147 strikeouts.
A second baseman when she doesn't pitch, Wynne also leads the league with a .485 batting average, 69 RBIs, 82 hits, 16 homers, 20 doubles, 33 walks, a .571 on-base percentage and a .911 slugging percentage, and she has struck out only six times. Kiley Longmire has a .420 average, 11 homers and 53 RBIs, and Madison Tidmore is batting .368 with 41 stolen bases in 41 tries.
Alyssia Bowen, Shelby Penning, Madison Crabtree, Katie Cheeseman, Kayla Woody and Aimie Davidson are batting .357, .355, .339, .336, .309 and .294.
"We've had a good year, obviously, but we're going to have fight for everything we get in this tournament," Golden said. "We were in control in the seventh inning in both games we lost at Walters - on two walk-offs by the same girl - so that definitely taught us some lessons about finishing."
She recalled that the Lady Tigers needed late-game heroics of their own to secure a sweep of third seed Volunteer State (32-11, 23-9), and fourth-seeded Motlow (26-18, 23-11) won a game each from the top two seeds. Motlow opens today at 3 against fifth seed Cleveland State (23-20, 15-17), which has one of the TCCAA's better pitchers, Shiane Stockwell (15-9, 2.31, 168 Ks), and won one of four regular-season meetings with the Lady Bucks.
Macy Bryant and Courtney Mooneyham have hit .357 with 41 and 25 RBIs for the Lady Cougars. Emily Yell is batting .395, and Hailey Galvan is at .341 with 16 steals.
The baseball tournament will end Thursday or Friday. Tickets for access to both events cost $25 for a tournament pass, $7 for daily admission.
All the games in both tournaments will be live-streamed through Chattanooga State's YouTube page, accessible through the athletics tab on the school's website. And much extra work has gone into making the fields and surrounding areas immaculate.
"You're having company over to your house, and you want it to look nice," Dennis said. "Only one team (in each tournament) will leave here really happy, but you want everybody to have a good experience."
Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.