MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Soddy Daisy Lady Trojans entered the State Softball Tournament’s Class 3-A bracket as one of the hottest teams in the state and they won their first game on Tuesday, despite not playing their best game.
They entered Wednesday’s play against McNairy Central riding a 14-game winning streak and all looked great until the very end.
Leading 4-0 going to the seventh inning, the Lady Bobcats scored six runs, including five with two outs, and shocked Soddy Daisy by a 6-4 final. And to add insult to injury, Gibbs beat the Lady Trojans by a 7-6 final to end a spectacular season on a most disappointing note with a record of 30-7-1.
“I still haven’t figured out what happened,” said Soddy Daisy coach Kelsey Nunley-Moore following the second loss.
“I really don’t know what to say. We didn’t give up as we battled in both games, but we just didn’t finish and that’s what you have to do if you expect to win. I don’t know what we could have done different,” she said in her usual quiet tone.
Soddy Daisy scored single runs in the first and third innings before adding two more in the fourth and appeared to be rolling in the right direction.
At least until the seventh inning began.
Maddie Kirk got things started for the Lady Bobcats with a single and before all was said and done, they had sent a dozen hitters to the plate and scored six runs, including five with two outs.
Bailee Shelton had the biggest hit with a three-run double that knotted the score.
Aspen Teague got hot by a pitch and Chloe Shelton walked to load the bases before Kirk got the go-ahead RBI with a bases-loaded walk. Chanley Price did the same for a two-run lead.
Madison Montgomery, who had relieved starter Bailee Shelton, pitched the final three innings to earn the win after allowing no runs on no hits while walking two.
She retired the Lady Trojans in order in the seventh to preserve the win.
Then in the second game against Gibbs, the Lady Eagles scored three times in the first and twice in the second and never looked back. The Lady Trojans responded with three runs in the third, one in the sixth and two in the seventh, but couldn’t get that last key hit that could have made a difference.
Skylar Gooden had three hits and two runs batted in for Soddy Daisy while Tatum Massengale had an RBI-double in her last game in a Lady Trojan uniform.
The East Hamilton Lady Hurricanes lost a tough one to Lexington in their first game of the day, giving up two runs in the bottom of the seventh to lose, 10-9.
But they stayed alive after holding off Crockett County by a 3-2 final in the second game.
East Hamilton now faces Gibbs in a losers bracket final on Thursday for the right to keep playing.
Reese Knox, Grace Hixson and Henley Apps all had two hits in the first game with Hixson driving in three runs and Apps two on a pair of doubles. Knox also had three hits in the win over Crockett County.
Ashlynn Watkins was the loser in the first game while Yulai Woodruff was the winner in the second.
The Lady Hurricanes are now 28-11 and will face the loser of Lexington and McNairy Central if they beat Gibbs.
McNAIRY CENTRAL 000 000 6 – 6 6 0
SODDY DAISY 101 200 0 – 4 8 0
B. Shelton, Montgomery (5) and C. Shelton; Rowan and Wilkey.
SODDY DAISY 003 001 2 – 6 8 1]
GIBBS 320 020 x – 7 11 3
Rowan, Webb (2) and Wilkey; Keck and Reagan.
EAST HAMILTON 101 006 1 – 9 9 3
LEXINGTON 000 701 2 – 10 13
Woodruff, Watkins (3) and Poschke; Johnson and Wood.
CROCKETT CO. 100 010 0 – 2 3 2
EAST HAMILTON 120 000 x – 3 8 1
Stallings and Cole; Woodruff and Apps.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)