In an early season matchup between two of the state’s best high school softball teams, it was all Soddy-Daisy on Tuesday afternoon at Soddy Lake Park.
With senior Brooke Ward going 3-for-3 with an RBI, Soddy-Daisy rolled to an 8-0 victory over GPS in the season opener for both teams. GPS is coming off three straight Division II state titles.
“It was a good start,’’ said Ward, who had a triple, double, single and walk. “Our No. 1 goal is to win the state. That’s why we’re out here working until after 6 o’clock every night. We’re going to do our best to win the state.’’
Said Soddy-Daisy coach Clifford Kirk, who has won eight state championships, “They did a good job today even though we haven’t even scrimmaged other than against ourselves.
“Ward wore it out today. Those kind of games will really get her going.’’
Soddy-Daisy sophomore Kelsey Nunley and freshman Tori Denayer combined on a four-hitter. Nunley gave up three hits and struck out eight over five innings and Denayer struck out three.
“Nunley, well, she’s the same old Nunley,’’ Kirk said. “She was in a little trouble in the first inning, but then she came on and was in total control.
“Our freshman (Denayer) gave us some good work and we’ve got two other freshmen pitchers who will help us this year. We’re going to be strong.’’
Ward led off the bottom of the first with a triple and scored on an error. In the third, Ward led off with a single, Cassidy Hackney singled and Alex Everett followed with a sacrifice bunt. Kali Henderson followed with a two-run double and later scored on Mariam Wood’s groundout for a 4-0 Soddy-Daisy lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, Taylor Wilson and Millie Putnam singled. Ward followed with an RBI double. Henderson then singled, followed by Brandi Lasley’s two-run single and Wood’s RBI single.
For GPS, Tennessee signee Tory Lewis, ETSU signee Jackie Baird and Katie Richardson had singles. Losing pitcher Payton Leech had a double.
“A lot of people were asking why we would open the season against Soddy-Daisy,’’ GPS coach Susan Crownover said. “Why not? Play them and see what happens. We’ll play them again later in the season and see what happens then.
“Soddy-Daisy has a really good team and one of the best pitchers in the state (Nunley). We’re going to be good, but we’ve got a long way to go. We’ve got some things to get worked out, but we’ll get them worked out.’’
LINESCORE
GPS……………000 000 0 – 0 4 4
Soddy-Daisy…..103 400x – 8 9 0
Nunley, Denayer (6) and Wilson; Leech, Swafford (4) and Baird.
(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)