Leading 10-1 after four, menacing, dark cloud cover opened up and unleashed a vicious thunderstorm that left Soddy Daisy’s home field almost completely submerged. When the brief summer storm relented, a shop-vac, a leaf blower, numerous brooms and rakes, and a handful of determined Trojan staffers spent around two hours getting the surface playable again. In their return to the field, after the storm stopped, bats on each side picked up right where the thunder had left off and hammered their way to a 16-6 final.
“It is hard to stay focused when you have that stuff go on,” said Soddy Daisy head coach Kelsey Nunley-Moore. “but just adjusting when you get back into the game and being able to adjust to a different pitcher,” added Nunley-Moore.
The Chiefs opened the scoring in this one on an Angela Ervin single in the first, but Soddy Daisy struck back with an Abby Faires triple to tie it in their half of the first and an eight-run second inning that put them firmly in position to advance to the region championship.
In an inning where the Trojans sent 12 batters to the plate, they stroked six singles and a double to account for the monstrous offensive output. Skylar Gooden, Abby Faires, Regan Rowan, and Jenna Sims all had one RBI apiece while Tatum Massengale and Hannah Patterson each drove in a pair in the colossal second frame.
“I told them to be aggressive, and they delivered,” said Nunley-Moore. “They were aggressive early,” she added.
Lily Blaylock added a 10th Trojan run when she scored on a wild pitch, but raindrops began to splatter on the playing surface as she dove into home, and at the end of the inning, the lengthy delay began.
Regan Rowan’s outing for Soddy Daisy was done at that point after striking out six and allowing three hits and a run, and the Sequoyah bats returned to the soggy field relieved to see a different face pitching to them. Kaleigh Atchley and Tynleigh Ray singled in fifth-inning runs as they looked to cut into the deficit, and Sequoyah continued its comeback struggle in the sixth with a Brooke Freeman three-run homer that clanged off of the left field foul pole to cut the lead to five.
Soddy Daisy, though, had a response.
Regan Rowan led off the Trojan half of the sixth with a no-doubt bomb to left field for her third hit and second RBI of the evening. Later that inning, Jenna Sims smoked a line shot out to center field that cleared the fence for a two-run homer. The jolt was nearly as sudden as the lightning strikes that had danced overhead a few hours prior. A few batters later, Abby Faires roped a double over the head of the center fielder to complete the run rule and add her fourth hit and fourth RBI in five trips to the plate.
Six Trojan batters finished with multiple runs batted in and every single Soddy Daisy hitter finished with at least one hit, and at least one run scored–a stunning display of offense from the deep Trojan lineup.
Sequoyah three-hole hitter Brooke Freeman carried the load for the Chiefs with four runs batted in and Angelina Ervin tallied three hits after starting the game as Sequpyah’s pitcher.
“Here lately, our bats have been very very hot,” said Nunley-Moore. “I’m hoping that we continue to roll and keep doing what we’re doing,” she added.
After piling 10 runs on the board, braving a two-hour rain delay, and stacking six more runs once it ended, the Soddy Daisy Trojans earned a trip to the region 3-AAA championship game at home against East Hamilton. The Lady Canes defeated South Doyle, 11-3, to reach the final.
SEQUOYAH 100 023 – 6 9 2
SODDY DAISY 180 115 – 16 19 0
Ervin, Atchley (2), Shubert (5), and Kimble; Rowan, Webb (5), and Wilkey.