6AAA Softball Cookeville Stone Sparta

[softballtheonlygame]

 

Hey cchsjetalum,

Great update on last nights action on the field! You really need to be a writer, kept me interested even when I watched the games!

 

On to some of my thoughts - now, I am not a writer - scouting some of the players, so bear with me........

 

Warren Co and Sparta, we were getting ready for another 3 hour marathon, but it didn't workout, but the game was a good one in terms of close scoring.  Sparta started out with a 2-0 lead after a shot to the pitcher and hustle by the player to get to first. That lead to the first scores of the night. After that Sparta was virtually done on the base paths .  Their kids just do not think and attitudes from a couple of the infielders really hinder their play.  I have watched all the games so far, not completely to the finish, but have watched the players from each team and have to say, throwing the gloves, bat bags, and throwing elbows just will not cut it.  The shortstop from Sparta throwing an elbow toward another player should have been thrown out of the game and tournament night before last.  That type of attitude didn't result in anything from umpires, except a warning, and even then their coach should have taken her out of the game.  But she stayed in and played.

Sparta also had a couple of pathetic attitudes from second, catcher and pitcher.  

Warren Co looked to have a lot of attitude from the stands, but, players were pretty good last night.  I have seen some player attitude in the past, but, they mostly came to play last night.  Now, neither team is a good team, lots of weaknesses from both, but look like the coaches are working on getting fundamentals back into those teams, something that has been lost for both in the past.  

Pitchers from both teams are so weak.  Warren Co pitcher is slow, but has some movement on the ball, thus one of the reason for the pop ups and lazy hitting.

Sparta pitcher is slow and a straight fast ball.  No movement at all on those pitches and straight down the middle.  Out of the fifty pitches I charted for each pitcher - Warren Co pitcher was 52 miles an hour, 9 fastballs, 17 curves, 21 backdoor curves and three change ups.

Sparta pitching was 51 miles an hour, and 50 fastballs.

 

The Cookeville - Rhea Co was a game!  The hustle by both teams was good!  I did not see the attitude from either team.  Rhea Co came to play! Now, they have seven or eight freshmen playing and they can play.  I will take a freshman over a senior when the senior is full attitude.  Their center fielder is as good as it gets.  What a player she is, but what a player she is going to be.  She tracks the ball as well as any I have seen in a while.  Her arm is strong and accurate and she is smart.  The two slappers Rhea Co has are as good as it gets as well.  They had Cookeville on their toes!  Rhea Co is the team of the future in this district.  They just do not have a pitcher that is up to par with the rest of the team.  She is a slow, 48 miles an hour.  She will get better with Rhea Co coaching.  That coach knows how to get those kids to respond.  She is smart, positive, enthusiastic and demanding.  Good stuff.

Cookeville is a team who knows how to win the close ones.  The other kids stepped up last night when the catcher was held from taking the ball over the fence.  Good pitching, 55 miles and hour,  batteries went out on the other pitcher - 

I gotta go, but, I will be back to finish my long winded statements,

Looking forward to tonights game.  Hope we will have two games to watch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CCHSJETALUM]

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/

[ryan665]

Hey cchsjetalum,

Great update on last nights action on the field! You really need to be a writer, kept me interested even when I watched the games!

 

On to some of my thoughts - now, I am not a writer - scouting some of the players, so bear with me........

 

Warren Co and Sparta, we were getting ready for another 3 hour marathon, but it didn't workout, but the game was a good one in terms of close scoring.  Sparta started out with a 2-0 lead after a shot to the pitcher and hustle by the player to get to first. That lead to the first scores of the night. After that Sparta was virtually done on the base paths .  Their kids just do not think and attitudes from a couple of the infielders really hinder their play.  I have watched all the games so far, not completely to the finish, but have watched the players from each team and have to say, throwing the gloves, bat bags, and throwing elbows just will not cut it.  The shortstop from Sparta throwing an elbow toward another player should have been thrown out of the game and tournament night before last.  That type of attitude didn't result in anything from umpires, except a warning, and even then their coach should have taken her out of the game.  But she stayed in and played.

Sparta also had a couple of pathetic attitudes from second, catcher and pitcher.  

Warren Co looked to have a lot of attitude from the stands, but, players were pretty good last night.  I have seen some player attitude in the past, but, they mostly came to play last night.  Now, neither team is a good team, lots of weaknesses from both, but look like the coaches are working on getting fundamentals back into those teams, something that has been lost for both in the past.  

Pitchers from both teams are so weak.  Warren Co pitcher is slow, but has some movement on the ball, thus one of the reason for the pop ups and lazy hitting.

Sparta pitcher is slow and a straight fast ball.  No movement at all on those pitches and straight down the middle.  Out of the fifty pitches I charted for each pitcher - Warren Co pitcher was 52 miles an hour, 9 fastballs, 17 curves, 21 backdoor curves and three change ups.

Sparta pitching was 51 miles an hour, and 50 fastballs.

 

The Cookeville - Rhea Co was a game!  The hustle by both teams was good!  I did not see the attitude from either team.  Rhea Co came to play! Now, they have seven or eight freshmen playing and they can play.  I will take a freshman over a senior when the senior is full attitude.  Their center fielder is as good as it gets.  What a player she is, but what a player she is going to be.  She tracks the ball as well as any I have seen in a while.  Her arm is strong and accurate and she is smart.  The two slappers Rhea Co has are as good as it gets as well.  They had Cookeville on their toes!  Rhea Co is the team of the future in this district.  They just do not have a pitcher that is up to par with the rest of the team.  She is a slow, 48 miles an hour.  She will get better with Rhea Co coaching.  That coach knows how to get those kids to respond.  She is smart, positive, enthusiastic and demanding.  Good stuff.

Cookeville is a team who knows how to win the close ones.  The other kids stepped up last night when the catcher was held from taking the ball over the fence.  Good pitching, 55 miles and hour,  batteries went out on the other pitcher - 

I gotta go, but, I will be back to finish my long winded statements,

Looking forward to tonights game.  Hope we will have two games to watch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am one of those parents form WC During the game against  Sparta I didn't have an attitude however I did in the second game with Rhea toward the ump on first he was horrible but he is consistently horrible. I say that because he made some bad calls he did correct one thank goodness.Anyways my attitude is when my daughter catches the ball and up to 2 steps later the runner touches the bag and he calls them safe x2 then I think I have a right to have a attitude jus my thoughts. By the way I have umped for years and I know we miss calls but come on. Wod those calls changed the outcome well we will never know.

[CCHSJETALUM]

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!

Edited May 9, 2014 by CCHSJETALUM

[ChattanoogaFBFan]

I like the Soddy vs Rhea matchup next round. That is a great rivalry through the years.

[coachjohnson]

I like the Soddy vs Rhea matchup next round. That is a great rivalry through the years.

I wouldn't call it a "rivalry," according to CoachT, Soddy Daisy has won

13 of 14 games over the last 8 years by a combined score of 98 to 13.

This averages out to 7 to 1 per game.

Soddy's only loss to Rhea was in '08 by 1 run in a non-district game.

Rhea has had some very good teams and are continuing to improve.

Good luck to both.

[ChattanoogaFBFan]

I wouldn't call it a "rivalry," according to CoachT, Soddy Daisy has won13 of 14 games over the last 8 years by a combined score of 98 to 13.This averages out to 7 to 1 per game.Soddy's only loss to Rhea was in '08 by 1 run in a non-district game.Rhea has had some very good teams and are continuing to improve.Good luck to both.

Yeah but those two schools do not like each other.

[softballtheonlygame]

 

I agree with you, there is not a rivalry when a team has won 13 out of 14 games!  There may be hate for each other, but that is no rivalry.  Its just another game for the team doing all the winning, just another game.  For the team doing all the losing, it hopes they can stop the bleeding, but, not a rivalry.  Just my opinion!

This district does not have a clue as to what it takes to win a State Championship.  Soddy district knows,  Now, Cookeville  and Walker Valley may have a good game, Rhea and Soddy may have a good game, but, that district is so far above this district - the pitching, the hitters - until this district understands pitching they will never go further.  FASTBALLS can be hit by anybody.  MOVEMENT can not.  Unless the fastballs are thrown college level speed, they are not going to be blown by players and look at our district tournament - there is not a pitcher who can blow a ball by anybody.  Look at the movement by Cookeville's pitcher in the district finals by Cookeville - Rhea could hardly touch the ball.

That is what this district has to look forward to in the Region.  And, then look at the other teams in the Regional - I just don't see this district showing much of anything.

Not trying to down the district - just stating the FACTS.....

[ChattSoftball]

Walker Valley and Cookeville game will be a good one, and will be a rematch from their meeting in the Plateau Invitational earlier this season where Walker Valley won 2-0. 

[tnsoftball]

Walker Valley didnt have Haley Davis or their left fielder last time the two teams met. Boen in centerfield and lead off had a big game. Cookeville pitched a girl that must have thrown 35 change ups in the game and kept Walkers big hitters from going yard. No other real highlights from the first game. Should be fun to watch. Game is at 6pm CST.

Edited May 11, 2014 by tnsoftball

[softballtheonlygame]

 

Bring on the Regional Tourney!

Today will be some GAMES-----Cookeville and Walker Valley in a matchup that could prove to be a dandy --- depends on Walker Valley or Cookeville coming to play. Cookeville has extra incentive   because of the loss earlier in the season in tourney play. But Walker Valley has pride on the line.

Walker Valley is the better team with better athletes, but anybody can win one game so it will be interesting. Rhea Co and Soddy --- Rhea Co is young and a few of their players are ready for this environment, but just don't think the can stay with Soddy. 

 

Now, in District 6 AAA we need to step up our game. We need to watch other Districts teams and get ourselves up to a more competitive District.  Where is our pride, our integrity and our work ethic in the teams from top to bottom. The embarrassing play of some of these players at the high school level is just awful. There are so many travel ball teams out there for these players to play on and learn during summer, but too many of the coaches in this district don't take control of their players and make them understand that in order for their teams to be competitive, they have to play travel ball. Most teams in other districts have year round competition. Until competition, better competition, is played, some of the teams in this district will just stay at the bottom half of the district year in and year out.

Looks like I state the facts and so many others out there are not as honest in evaluations, so how about we open up honest evaluations of this district --- I mean true honest evaluations --- I have been honest in every way, just looking for  others to be as hones.  We don't have to agree, but just looking for honesty................

[CCHSJETALUM]

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.