Soddy-Daisy's Lady Trojans didn't have many scoring opportunities in their Class AAA high school softball sectional Friday. And when they did, they seemed to help Coffee County pitcher Kaylee Skipper.
Skipper didn't need much help, throwing a three-hitter and leading Coffee County to a 3-0 victory at Soddy-Daisy.
Coffee County (24-16) advances to the state tournament - which begins Tuesday in Murfreesboro - for a fifth time in school history.
Second-year coach Steve Wilder, who in 2016 succeeded Terry Floyd, who is recovering from a liver transplant, came to the school from Dyersburg. He led that school to the Class AA state tournament.
"I was told not many have led teams to the state tournament in two classifications, especially Double-A and Triple-A," Wilder said. "I wanted to come here when I heard the job came open. Class Triple-A is where it's at."
The only baserunner the Lady Trojans had in the first three innings was Haley Harvey, who was hit by a pitch with two out in the second. Their best scoring opportunity arose in the fourth, but after they were down 2-0.
Peri Prestwood drew Soddy-Daisy's only walk, and, after a force play, Aminah Wood singled to center and Courtney Daughtrey reached on an error to load the bases. Skipper then got out of it with a popout and a groundout.
Soddy-Daisy had two aboard with one out in the fifth and also got the leadoff runner on in the seventh. But in each case a Coffee outfielder made a catch, then doubled a runner off base.
"We had some baserunning mistakes out there," Soddy-Daisy coach Travis Hale said. "We had been running the bases well late in the season. You get this deep in the postseason, you have to do the little things right. We just didn't get the little things done tonight."
Skipper wasn't overpowering - she had three strikeouts - but was efficient and kept batters off balance with an effective changeup.
"She's a senior who doesn't care about playing college ball," Wilder said, "but there wasn't anybody going to pitch but her tonight."
The key to the Lady Raiders' two-run fourth, which started with the first two batters being retired, was freshman pinch-hitter Sarah West drawing a walk. That allowed leadoff batter Katie Rutledge to bat with the bases loaded, and she singled in the runs.
"I told her, 'That was the best at-bat of the season,'" Wilder said of West. "That walk allowed Katie to come to bat and knock those runs in. She showed she's a team player who didn't try to do it all herself. That was nice to see."
Soddy-Daisy ends its season 31-14.
"I'm proud of these kids," first-year head coach Hale said. "They worked so hard through the preseason, right on into the season. They showed a lot of guts in the past week, winning some big games. I'm so proud of what they accomplished."
' Ooltewah 6, Lawrence County 0: In a Class AAA sectional at Lawrence County, Kayla Boseman pitched a no-hitter with two walks and 14 strikeouts and played a key role offensively for the Lady Owls, who advance to the state tournament.
"She pitched about as well as she's pitched all year," Ooltewah coach Jon Massey said. "She was spot on with her curveball, riseball and screwball today."
Ooltewah (32-8) got her a run in the second inning on Jadyn Raschke's single. A Boseman double, a Mabry Carpenter single and - an out later - a Tyler Sullivan double each drove in a run in the third.
Boseman's two-run homer capped the scoring in the seventh. She and Shelby Sutton, who scored twice, each went 2-for-4.
"She ran it up there pretty good," Massey said of Lawrence County's pitcher. "We just put the bat on the ball."
- Meigs County 10, North Greene 0: In a Class A sectional at Meigs County, Ashley Rogers pitched a one-hitter with 13 strikeouts and went 2-for-4 with two RBIs in the six-inning game that allows last year's state champion to return to the Spring Fling.
Lindsey Ward went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and also homered in the victory. Kaylie Moore was 2-for-4 and drove in a run.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.