The No. 3-seeded team defeating the No. 2-seeded team in a high school softball tournament usually isn't a complete surprise. That is, unless it's something like what East Ridge's Lady Pioneers did.
Third-seeded East Ridge already was leading by three runs Saturday in its District 6-AA winners-bracket semifinal when it added a 10-run fifth inning and defeated Central 13-1.
Regular-season champion Red Bank won the day's first game at Signal Mountain by beating the host team 11-0. Both winners-bracket semifinals were stopped by the 10-run mercy rule after five innings.
There were also three losers-bracket games played, including Central taking out some frustration with a 16-1 three-inning victory over Tyner.
Rain interrupted the final game of the day between Hixson and Signal Mountain. That game is set to resume Monday at 4:30 p.m. East Ridge (15-17) and Red Bank (27-7) are scheduled in the winners-bracket final at 5, and the Hixson-Signal Mountain winner will play Central (12-18) at 7.
The first eight Lady Pioneers were retired in order before Savanna Aymon lined a single to center field in the third inning. She scored the first run on an errant outfield throw on Sarah Hudgens' ensuing single.
Then when Monica Hubbard tripled in a run the next inning and later scored on an error, that looked like it might be enough for East Ridge the way Sabrina Thompson was pitching. But the Lady Pioneers piled on in the fifth, sending 15 to bat. They delivered 10 of their 14 hits in that inning and took advantage of two more Lady Purple Pounders errors.
"They just played like there was no pressure," said East Ridge coach Kerilyn Mongar, whose team lost 6-3 in the regular-season district meeting and thus was seeded below Central. "I think everybody knows what we're capable of. They've seen us do good before. I think it's a matter of us having confidence in ourselves. Finally in the third inning our offense started coming around after we'd already seen it once. And we shut their big hitters down."
In addition to the miscues, Central coach Randy Crawford felt some of the hits that fell in could've been caught with better reads off the bat by his fielders. Not much could be done about Casiee Jordan's two-run homer that made it 8-0 at the time, but Aymon and Kati Kennedy added two-run doubles before it was all over.
"If we'd have gotten the outs when we had the opportunities to get those things, before the girl jacks it out we'd have been out of the inning," Crawford said. "They stayed aggressive with the bats. That was impressive."
Thompson was working on a two-hit shutout with one out to go when the Lady Pounders put three hits together and scored. Amanda Roy doubled and scored the run on a single by Catelynne Brown, who ended up 3-for-3.
Thompson also went 3-for-4 and had two RBIs. Hubbard, Aymon, Hudgens and Kennedy had two hits apiece with Kennedy doubling twice in the fifth, the first driving in one run.
Shelby Romans went 3-for-3 in Red Bank's win, driving in a run and scoring two. Lexie Wright, who scored three runs, was 2-for-2 and homered, as did winning pitcher Hannah Wood. Bailee Phillips also was 2-for-2, and Cassia Mitchell was 2-for-3 and matched Wood with two RBIs.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.