Whitwell senior ace Anna Yell locked her sights in late and did not back down in a matchup of regular-season district champions.
The future Cleveland State player registered four of her six strikeouts in her final two innings, slamming the door on a 5-4 road victory over Soddy-Daisy on Monday.
Whitwell pitcher Anna Yell fields a ground ball during the Whitwell vs. Soddy-Daisy softball game at the Soddy-Daisy High School Monday, April 29, 2019 in Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee."My catcher (Caitlin Rollins) and I have a really strong chemistry," said Yell, who collected her 18th win and smacked two of the Lady Tigers' 12 hits. "We have been clicking together, and our whole team has really started stepping it up as of late. We want to go really far and hopefully win it all."
With back-to-back trips to the Class A state tournament, this year seems to be a continuation for the Lady Tigers (22-8).
Rollins went 2-for-4 and drove in the game-tying run in the sixth inning, while also helping turn one of Whitwell's two double plays.
Reading the next move for the Class AAA Lady Trojans (24-11), Rollins faked a throw down to second on a first-and-third situation in the fifth inning that Yell leaped to grab. A perfectly executed rundown got the runner between third and home as well as the other runner retreating to second base.
Whitwell first baseman Hadee Hedrick turned an unassisted double play in the second inning on a scorching shot she caught and touched the bag to take away a potentially dangerous inning.
Senior Lady Tigers left fielder Delanie Merciers made an outstanding shoelace grab to end the game. And Merciers' sacrifice fly in the sixth brought in Layla McEwen for the decisive run.
"Our girls showed a lot of great leadership today," Whitwell coach Rebecca Castle said. "When we execute our plays, bunts, throw-downs, et cetera, we are tough to beat. I think we are really building on some positives right now."
Every hitter for the road team had at least one hit, while leadoff speedster Maddie Jordan had two hits and McEwen scored twice.
Soddy-Daisy received a two-hit performance from senior standout Stephanie Blevins, who drove in a pair of runners to tie the game in the third.
Hope Ingle and Taylor Lloyd also delivered RBI hits for the Lady Trojans, who showed fight but came up just short. They were aided by strong plays in the field by outfielders Alyx Howell and Samantha Jo Stuart and shortstop Javaria Smith.
"It's a new season now," Soddy-Daisy coach Travis Hale said. "We get to work towards the district tournament tomorrow. We want to fight and give it our best. Hopefully we can keep the district title here and defend our home field."
Contact staff writer Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.