CCHSJETALUM

You're correct about the phone call, but the phone call was made not to tell Soddy the game was complete, it was made to determine if they were going to be able to complete it. The field was worse this morning than it was last night. A decision was made at that time, after consulting on the phone about the field. Look, I don't know who you are, you're probably a good person, a parent, a fan, etc... but the TSSAA is not a wing of the Obama administration that calls and dictates to schools. No one disputes that a game can officially be called complete after 5 innings. If this were a regular season game and the schedule permitted and both schools agreed to continue at a later agreed to date the TSSAA (if the umpires on the field did not officially call the game complete with concurrence from both coaches) wouldn't even get involved. The TSSAA don't have enough people to physically check the condition of every HS softball field in this state. The field and it's condition is entrusted to the host school. And no we don't have little sensors on each field that let us know if it's good to play or not. A question was asked about the field conditions, an answer was given. That said, the only option was to call it complete because this is not the regular season, there is no chance to continue at a later date, and sectional games are scheduled for tomorrow. And yes, playing a game on that field tonight, after all that rain would've made a mess for tomorrow night. The game should've been called complete by the umpires on the field after 5, but the coaches agreed to continue, just like they agreed to suspend last night and continue the game today weather and field conditions permitting. And it only makes sense to call the school that owns the field to find out if the game could be played, especially when scheduling umpires. Not sure what your problem is accepting the way TSSAA is involved in this process. Who do you think the TSSAA should've called to inquire about the field conditions so they would know to schedule umps or not? Or do you think the TSSAA should start dictating to schools which games to re-schedule or continue? This game was called due to the field conditions at Soddy that were reported this morning, and since there is no other time to continue it, the only option was to use the after 5 rule that should've been used last night. You can bet some folks got a talking to today for allowing it to continue as long as it did. There, take or leave it, I'm a softball fan and been in the business for 30 plus years coaching and calling, been boo'd, cussed, heckled, and called every name in the book by folks that just jump to conclusions without knowing the rules or the process and call someone a liar without knowing anything about what they're arguing about. Good night and good luck to your team, it's about those kids, not parents, coaches, or even umpires.

No drugs, no crying. If my post came off as crying then maybe you're on drugs. And don't tell me what the TSSAA did or didn't do or did or didn't say when all you know is what you read in a local paper or heard on your local channel. And I know your coach don't run the TSSAA and neither did Cliff, never said they did. I have the utmost respect for them both and the tradition of Soddy softball, to include "most" of their fans. You can choose to believe what you want to, or not. It really doesn't matter to me, I was just trying to clarify what some media reported. Besides, anyone who knows anything about how games get cancelled, re-scheduled, etc knows that's exactly how it works. I never once implied that the field was not as was reported this morning. Take a chill pill!

I can assure you that the TSSAA was fine with continuing the game tonight provided that the hosting school deemed the field conditions were safe and suitable for play and both schools concurred on continuing the game where it left off. The TSSAA was told by the host school that field had not improved and could not be made safe and playable by tonight, and that continuing the game with poor field conditions would risk The field being ready for the sectional game scheduled on Friday. As with all TSSAA softball games, games can be considered complete after 5 innings when anything happens beyond that point that could cause injury or adversely affect the play of the game. That said, Soddy ultimately made the call on whether to continue or not based on their assessment and judgement of their field conditions that they reported to the TSSAA. Just the facts, not questioning anyone's integrity. It's just that some of the media reports are misleading and making it sound like the TSSAA just called Soddy and declared it a complete game without consulting with anyone on the possibility of continuing or about the field conditions and the prospect of improving them. Bottom line, from what I was also told today, these two teams looked to be evenly matched. I know Cookeville players and fans would've liked for this game to have been played to conclusion and the winner decided by a complete game on the field rather than a called complete game on the telephone. I suspect a few Soddy fans do too, and that most of them don't prefer winning this way vs. winning on the field. Like someone else said, we'll never know how this particular game would've played out. All anyone can do is speculate. However, we can all hope that both of these teams advance on Friday so they can meet again next week in the Boro. Then we can all enjoy a competitive game between two good teams.

Thanks to the both of you for the info. Close game and too bad they couldn't finish it tonight before the rain came. Not only is that a long way to go to finish a single inning, but I'm not sure the weather will be any better from the forecast. Look forward to reading the game highlights in the paper. Good luck to both teams in the sectional round.

Does anyone know if Cookeville vs Soddy was played tonight or rained out? I've not seen a score nor anything about it being rescheduled. Thanks in advance.

The Cookeville Lady Cavs from 6AAA beat Walker Valley from 5AAA tonight 4-3. Great game, great pitching, great defense. Cookeville tallied more hits but struggled to get them across, must've left at least 10. All three of Cookeville's seniors led their team tonight with key hits and great defensive plays. Great win for 6AAA! Wednesday nights game should be a barn burner if rain don't put the fire out.

The District 6AAA championship game was as good as advertised. The final score on the scoreboard shows the Cookeville Lady Cavs winning 11-2 over Rhea Co, but the game stayed close for the first 5 innings. Cookeville learned from last night, starting their winning pitcher from last night who picked up right where she left off, both in the circle and at the plate. Also, in a bold but beautiful coaching move with the line-up card (that seemed to catch everyone by surprise), lady Cavs coaches decided to have their first team all state catcher lead off the sticks for the lady Cavs. This move paid dividends for them from the get-go and throughout the game. Rhea Co, as expected put her on when the base pads were empty, but the rest of the line-up would step up tonight scoring their lead off hitter every time. When Rhea had to pitch to her because the base pads were occupied, she made them pay with a base clearing double and RBI single. Rhea stayed with their game plan from last night but never quite figured out what to do with #2's pitches that had more spin than a politician right before election day. When Rhea did whack a mole tonight, Cookeville's defense was ready and played error free for the most part. I saw a Cookeville team play tonight that can compete and win in the next round if they play like they did tonight. I also saw a Rhea Co team that, if they stay together and continue to improve, should be the pre-season favorites to win District 6 AAA next season. Not to write them off this year, they very well could give those big girls from Soddy fits in the next round, especially if Soddy is unprepared and allows those banshees on the base pads or if they hit everything to the outfield where Rhea's center fielder waits to run down and catch anything and everything hit out there between the foul poles. Congratulations to Cookeville for winning both the 6AAA regular season title and the tournament championship. Also, congrats to Rhea Co, by far the most improved team in the district from the start of the season. I wish both teams well in the next round and hope they both make it to the Boro. And a special good bye to one of the best softball players, at any position, to ever grace the fields of this district. To a kid that cut her teeth on this game in Cumberland County and then broke more than a few hearts when she moved to Cookeville. It has been my pleasure to watch you play over the years, even though your team won every game against us during your last four years, with you single handedly being responsible for most of those wins. I knew you were special from the first time I saw you play, and I've never seen anyone work harder, not even close. Your graduation is bitter sweet, bitter that we'll miss watching you play and sweet because we may actually have a chance to beat Cookeville again. Best of luck #23 in the region and beyond. I'm sure MTSU can't wait for you to get there. You can bet I'll be following your college career and cheering you on. Now go do at MTSU what you did for Cookeville, make them better and win a Conference USA championship. Thanks to everyone for a great District 6AAA tournament. See Y'all next season!

Thanks "softballtheonlygame", you don't write too bad yourself. That was good stuff, I don't get in the weeds with the stats like I used to. I agree about Rhea being the team of the future, at least for the next 3 years if they stick together and improve/add to their pitching. They've got all the other pieces now, minus pitching and experience/maturity. Their team speed and athleticism may be the best I've seen in a while, and that includes the Chattanooga area teams. Anyway, now that we know which of our teams are going to the Region 3 AAA playoffs, below is the TSSAA bracket. Tonight will decide who will host Walker Valley and who will travel to Soddy. http://tssaa.org/2014-class-aaa-girls-softball-region-tournament-bracket/

Wow! No crystal ball here, just been around this game too long maybe? Anyway, what a great night of softball last night in district 6AAA. The night started with a close 4-3 win by Warren Co over White Co, then proceeded to the second game where Rhea Co gave Cookeville more than they wanted and almost pulled the biggest upset of the tournament. They did exactly what I thought they might do, they put the ball in play forcing errors that allowed their base runners to get on, then they were off to the races, their aggressive base running put Cookeville on its heels and kept their heads spinning all night. Rhea's batters blasted Cookeville's fastball pitcher and kept the infield off balance with a good mix of power and small ball. Rhea's defense played good enough to win and held the district MVP (Cookeville's all star catcher) to a lone infield pop-up, and didn't give her anything else close to the plate, walking her the rest of the night. Cookeville made a pitching change in the 5th with the score tied at 5 (that may turn out to be their best coaching move of the tournament). Cookeville's #2 kept Rhea hitters off balance with her off speed stuff that had Rhea batters swatting at flies and fouling their spark plugs the rest of the game. She didn't allow any more runs and allowed only two base runners before she herself came up to bat in the bottom of the 7th. With one out and a runner on third, she blasted a walk off double that hit the fence in left field allowing the runner on third to tag and score for the 6-5 win, earning Cookeville's berth in the Region 3 AAA playoffs. Cookeville's batters struggled all night against Rhea's pitcher, her off-speed stuff had them popping up and dinking balls all over the infield, with an occasional fly ball to Rhea's outstanding center fielder, resulting in easy plays for Rhea's D with their speed and athleticism. Cookeville's D played solid but made too many errors. Their gunslinger pitcher didn't seem to have her usual pop and accuracy last night. Cookeville has a few things to fix if they hope to advance in the Region 3 AAA playoffs. On to game 3: Rhea remained focused and kept their heads up, they turned it around in game 3 beating Warren Co 10-0, earning District 6AAA's second Region 3 AAA playoff berth. They did it by just doing what they've done throughout the tournament, playing good D, putting the ball in play, getting runners on, and running like banshees on the bases. Congrats to Warren and White Co. Y'all came to play and it showed. Both teams have a great bunch of players, coaches, parents and fans. I'm not sure what the local teams had on their minds, but we all know it wasn't softball. But I will congratulate the team from my alma mater for an excellent job running the concession stand. The Championship game is tonight at 5:00. Rhea will have to beat Cookeville twice to earn the #1 seed going into the playoffs. That's highly unlikely, but that's why they play the game. That's my 3 cents for today, hope we have a big crowd to send both these teams off to represent us in the Region 3AAA playoffs, see y'all tonight.

Warren Co vs White Co rematch this evening at 4:00, followed by Rhea Co vs Cookeville at 6:00. At 8:00 the winner of game 1 plays the loser of game 2 with the winner advancing to the championship game tomorrow evening at 5:00. Tonight's gonna be a good night!

The awards last night were for the district regular season. If I was told correctly, there will be a few more awards specific to the tournament itself.

Rhea Co won over Stone 14-12. So they will play Cookeville on Wednesday in the second game of the night (6:00). (gametimes are: 4:00 & 6:00, and 8:00 for the loser of Cookeville vs. Rhea vs the winner of the 4:00 game). The championship game is slated for 5:00 on Thursday. I thought last night's games were good games. Cookeville played to their scouting report and is still the favorite to win the district tournament. I would've liked to have seen a more dominating performance from them defensively and from the circle because that's what they're going to need to compete in the next round against the 5AAA runner-up that they'll face in the region. Not too fast though, I think Rhea Co could give Cookeville their toughest challenge of the tournament if they continue to play the way they have in their first two games (they've plated 28 runs in two games). Rhea Co seems focused so far which is something they weren't (consistently) during the regular season. They are the youngest team in the district and, in my opinion, have the most team speed and athleticism. They hit to average throughout the line-up and aggressively run the base pads. If, key word if, they can stay focused, they'll be able to hit against Cookeville's pitching. Anyone who follows the teams in 6AAA knows that if you put the ball in play against Cookeville's defense they will make some errors and allow some base runners. As agressive and quick as Rhea Co is, this could cause Cookeville some problems and force some errors if they start throwing the ball around the infield. That said, Rhea's defense is good enough, but their pitching is the weak link (they've gave up more hits and runs this year than they've made). Cookeville will have no problem hitting the ball and should score plenty. This game could turn into a high scoring affair, but if Cookeville's defense plays well, and can minimize errors, they should win this game going away. Congrats to all the girls receiving awards last night. I do look forward to seeing if Rhea remains as agressive on the bases as they have been in their first two games against the district 6AAA regular season MVP behind the plate (Cookeville's catcher). They've been taking chances, big lead-offs and have had success with some risky steals on the base pads in the tournament thus far without much challenge. Well, they'll definitely be challenged tomorrow night against one of the best softball arms in the state behind the plate for Cookeville. Again, I'm hoping for some good games tonight. I know at least a couple of the teams playing tonight are suffering from some typical late season drama brought on by a long season. Nothing will break up a team and get them eliminated quicker than bad attitudes and devisive players and parents. This time of year, the teams that advance are those that are focused and playing together (as players, coaches, parents, and fans). This is another reason I think Cookeville went unblemished in the regular season and continues to do well, they appear to be well coached, the coaches, players, and parents seem to get along and they all exhibit good sportsmanship. Oh, and by far they have the best fan support of any team in district 6AAA. Never overlook how important these things are, especially with girls. That's my 5 cents for today. See y'all tonight.

Good stuff softballtheonly game. But it really doesn't matter why you shouldn't pitch to her, fear, respect or whatever. My point is that if anyone in this district is going to beat them then they have to take her offense out of the game and level the playing field. Take away her bat and their team hitting average is probably about the same as everyone else. And batters have to stay disciplined against their pitching by not swinging at balls outside the zone. Both pitchers struggle with accuracy but a good hitting team will be patient with the junk pitcher and tee-off on their fastball pitcher, not to mention the latter gets rattled easy if you hit her early. Just say'n and like you I hope to see some good ball tonight.

I assume that special moment you're referring to in the bottom of the 9th was that line shot over the center field fence that tied the game yet again and sent it to the 10th inning. Like I said earlier, one of the best games I've seen all year, not to mention one of the longest (3 hours). I was also impressed with White County's pitcher (I think someone said could only go 3-4 innings), she pitched well for 10 innings and worked herself out of several situations. Good luck during the rest of the tournament! I hope the games tonight are competitive. I'm personally looking forward to seeing if White County pitches to Cookeville's catcher or justs walks her intentionally when she comes up to bat.

Rhea beat CCHS 14-2 in an ugly and embarrassing loss for the home team. Rhea came to play and CCHS came to watch, The Warren-White game was one of the best games I've watched this year, at least from innings 5-10. I just call'em like I see'em.