MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - As far as Dyer County batters were concerned, first base may as well have been the moon.
That's how far away the Lady Choctaws were from threatening to put a runner on base against Ooltewah pitcher Kayla Boseman.
The Lady Owls junior not only tossed a no-hitter with 15 strikeouts and no walks, she fell behind just two batters in a 5-0 win to open the Class AAA softball state tournament Tuesday at Murfreesboro Sports Complex.
Ooltewah softball coach Jon Massey and the Lady Owls move on to a winners-bracket semifinal in the Class AAA softball state tournament in Murfreesboro after beating Dyer County 5-0 on Tuesday."Usually if I can get through the first inning, I feel like I can settle into a groove," Boseman said. "Once I got going, I felt really good. Getting a couple of runs early took the pressure off me and allowed me to just throw."
The bottom of the Lady Owls' order provided the first run when Addy Keylon drilled a 2-2 pitch down the third-base line for an RBI double. Shelby Sutton added a two-out RBI hit, and that was more than enough offensive support for Boseman against Dyer County (19-16).
Ooltewah (33-8) added two more runs in the fourth on singles by Ally Chernak and Teira Lemon. Chernak, Lemon and Sutton all finished with two hits, and Sutton added another RBI hit in the sixth.
"We had chances to blow the game open several times," said Ooltewah coach Jon Massey, noting his team's nine runners left on base. "I don't think our level of concentration was where it should've been. Some of that may have been our kids overlooking them, but we just didn't execute like we should have.
"But Kayla threw really well. She was in control, and the main thing is we're in the winners' side of the bracket."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.