MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Not even a brief rain delay could keep the East Hamilton Lady Hurricanes and the Soddy Daisy Lady Trojans from advancing in the Class 3-A portion of the TSSAA State Softball Tournament being played here at the Starplex fields Tuesday afternoon.
It was amazing softball to be sure and both teams won in dramatic fashion and both will play again on Wednesday in the winner’s bracket semifinals.
East Hamilton will face Lexington in one game at 5 p.m. while Soddy Daisy faces McNairy Central in the second one, also at 5 on side-by-side fields at McKnight Park.
EAST HAMILTON 10, GIBBS 9: The Lady Hurricanes by far had the toughest opening game as the Lady Eagles began play with a gaudy 36-4 record while the East Hamilton was 26-10.
Things didn’t look good for the ladies in green as Gibbs batted around in the first inning and had a 4-0 lead before the Lady Canes ever batted and the difference was 7-2 after two.
But never give up on East Hamilton as they just kept battling and eventually knotted the score at 7-7.
Grace Hixson, who ripped a two-run homer in the first, slugged a grand slam in the fifth to tie things up after Yulai Woodruff had made it 7-3 with a solo homer in the fourth.
Then with the score knotted at 7-7 going to the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Canes struck again by scoring two runs.
Winning pitcher Ashlynn Watkins led off with a double to right-center and went to third when Madilyn Evans grounded to second for the first out. Bella McDonald grounded to short for the second out before Kenzie Sams walked to put runners on the corners.
Reese Knox, probably the best hitter on East Hamilton’s team who had three straight singles in her first three at-bats, ripped a 2-2 pitch down the line in left for a single to drive in the first run while an error by the Gibbs left-fielder allowed courtesy runner Alana Johnson to score as Knox raced to third.
Bailey Poschke then popped to short for the third out, but the damage had been done and the Lady Hurricanes were suddenly three outs away from a huge win.
But the Lady Eagles weren’t going quietly and without a fight.
Savanna Melo led off with a double and went to third when Addison Merritt grounded to McDonald at first. Malyiah Smith was called out on batter’s interference when she made contact with a bunt in fair territory for the second out.
Dakota Large and Jordann Reagan both followed with RBI-singles to knot the score. Meanwhile, Gibbs coach Carol Mitchell was ejected for arguing a call and eventually left the Gibbs dugout after a long delay and a lengthy discussion with TSSAA officials.
Watkins then got Lacey Keck on a swinging third strike to end the inning, setting the stage for East Hamilton’s rally in the bottom of the inning.
Hixson was the leadoff hitter for the Lady Canes and went to first on an unintentional intentional walk. Woodruff then got hit by a pitch before Henley Apps struck out for the first out. Watkins then waited patiently on her pitch before ripping a 1-1 offering into right to drive in Hixson with the winning run.
“That was something else,” said Watkins, the 17-year-old junior who was also the winning pitcher after allowing nine runs – only four were earned – on a dozen hits while walking one, striking out five and hitting two.
“I was relaxed that last time up. That girl had been throwing it outside, so I just took it where it was thrown. It was all about finding mental toughness when we were down, but we have a good team too and we are good about picking each other up in tough spots,” she added.
Hixson has had some timely home runs in her career, but none any more timely for the 18-year-old senior than the ones on Tuesday.
“We came out sort of slow, but our principal Brent Eller was here and he called that second one. It’s always nice to be able to do it twice,” she smiled.
East Hamilton coach Norma Nelson should be used to comebacks like this as her team had done this more than once this spring. She was just glad they could do it one more time on the state’s biggest stage.
“These kids never quit today and they easily could have, but us beating that team is huge. Someone told me they had been here 22 years in a row, so the pressure was on us,” Nelson said in her usual quiet tone.
“That’s a great win for us. We made a few errors along the way, but we also got key hits when we had to have them. And I’m so proud of Grace and Ashlynn as they both played so well. But we’ll just have to come back tomorrow and do the same thing,” the veteran coach concluded.
Knox had four hits to lead East Hamilton while Hixson had three hits and the six RBIs. Watkins had two hits, none any bigger than the last one to end the game with only one out.
Reagan had four hits and three runs batted in to lead Gibbs. Lacey Keck and Melo added two hits apiece as the Lady Eagles finished with 12.
SODDY DAISY 2, CROCKETT CO. 1: Both teams scored a run in the first inning, but the Lady Trojans scored the game winner in the third. Both of Soddy Daisy’s runs were unearned.
It was a tough game for the Lady Trojans as they only managed six hits, but junior pitcher Regan Rowan was more than up for the challenge as she got the win after allowing the one run on just four hits while walking two and striking out seven.
Soddy Daisy coach Kelsey Nunley-Moore knows that her team has been been playing outstanding softball in recent weeks and Tuesday’s win improved their record to 30-5-1 with their 14th straight win. It was an ugly win to say the least and the coach was the first to admit it.
“We played so bad and so ugly, but we won and that’s all that matters,” she began after the game ended.
“That wasn’t the way we’ve been playing lately as that’s not the team I’ve been watching, but it was just a matter of who wanted it worse, but it was a tough one and I’m just thankful we won,” she added.
The Lady Cavaliers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Piper White singled and advanced to third on a bunt single by Brooklyn Haynes. Lynden Cole then had a sacrifice fly to drive in White.
Soddy Daisy evened the score in the bottom of the first when Skylar Gooden singled, went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Abby Faires and scored on an error by Jayden Maddox.
Then in the third, Soddy Daisy scored what turned out to be the winning run when Faires reached on a Lady Cavalier error and later scored on the same play. Tatum Massengale and Rowan both singled to keep the inning alive, but it ended when Adasyn Wilkey grounded into a double play.
The score remained 2-1 until the end, but Crockett County wouldn’t surrender peacefully.
Kinleigh Lamb singled and went to second on a wild pitch. A sacrifice bunt by Maddox sent Lamb to third with just one out, but it all ended when Rowan got both Karly Pigue and Mary Carter on called strikes to save the win.
Rowan and Hannah Patterson both had two hits for the Lady Trojans while Massengale and Gooden had one hit apiece.
While Rowan was the winner in the circle, Anna Stallings was the loser after allowing both runs – both were unearned – on six hits while walking one and striking out one.
GIBBS 430 000 2 – 9 12 1
EAST HAMILTON 200 142 1 -- 10 11 4
L. Keck and Reagan; Watkins and Poschke.
CROCKETT CO. 100 000 0 – 1 4 3
SODDY DAISY 101 000 x – 2 6 0
Stallings and Cole; Rowan and Wilkey.’
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)