Jenna Sims may not be trying to swing out of her shoes, but the Soddy-Daisy slugger left a lasting indentation on the scoreboard at Lamar Lasley Field.
Sims, a sophomore for the Lady Trojans, scorched a two-run home run and singled in an insurance run to key Monday's 5-3 non-district home win over Sequatchie County.
"With help from Coach Kelsey (Nunley-Moore) and Coach Rickie (Ritchie) I have been able to stay inside the ball this season and I am happy to see strong results so far," said Sims, who has a .667 batting average (16-for-24) to go with three home runs and 18 RBIs in a promising 10-1 start.
"When they told me I would be hitting fourth I knew they believed in me. But I am not up there to just try and kill the ball," Sims added. "I go up to the plate to make solid contact and help my team out any way I can."
In two fierce battles against Sequatchie County this season, Soddy-Daisy has won both in comeback fashion in a matchup. The first was an 8-7 victory to win the Meigs County Classic. In Monday's game the Lady Indians (8-3) scored all three runs in the top of the first as Georgia Tech signee Ella Edgmon used her blazing speed to score the first run while Alexus Ferrell hit an opposite field two-run double.
Lady Trojans junior ace Taylor Lloyd was unfazed by the early deficit, which was aided by two fielding miscues.
The right-hander went on to allow one hit the rest of the way and retired 14-of-15 batters down the stretch. Lloyd hit her spots with her fastball while mixing in tough changeups and rise balls that generated key outs. Hope Ingle made a pair of web gems at third base on line drives while Makayla Perez made a tough running catch in left field to back their ace.
"We are up for a challenge every time we go on the field," said Lloyd,who is 5-0 with a miniscule 0.25 ERA. "Sequatchie County is a really good team and they have been up on us 5-0 and 3-0 in the first inning, but we never give in.
"As long as I take one batter at a time and focus on every pitch and make sure I have all three working, then I know my defense has my back and my hitters got me on offense. When Jenna hit that home run I knew we were right in it."
Soddy-Daisy took a 4-3 lead in the fourth on an infield throwing error that allowed two runs to score, while Sims stretched the lead in the sixth by driving in Lloyd.
Lloyd struck out eight while tossing 79 pitches over seven innings of two-hit ball without any walks and eight strikeouts. She now has 44 strikeouts over 28 innings in which she has allowed 12 hits, three walks and just one earned run.
"Taylor has been doing everything we have asked of her and held really strong teams down so far," first-year Lady Trojans coach and former Kentucky standout Nunley-Moore said. "She really settled in after the first against a dangerous lineup."
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.