MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Kelsey Nunley finally got to earn a state championship ring.
Two years ago, she was injured and didn't get to pitch in the championship game when Soddy-Daisy won the Class AAA championship.
On Saturday, she fired a one-hitter and struck out 12 in leading Soddy-Daisy past Daniel Boone, 7-0, for the state title. It was the eighth state championship for the Lady Trojans and the 10th for coach Clifford Kirk, who won two at Hixson High.
"Not getting to pitch in that game drove me,'' Nunley said. "I wanted to earn a state championship. This feels great. It is amazing. I'm on Cloud 9.''
Said Kirk, "This is the 10th for me, but no other one has been moe important than this one because Nunley is our only senior. This was so important to her.''
Soddy-Daisy took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second on an error and a two-run triple by Olivia Williams.
"When I got in the box I was determined to get a hit,'' Williams said. "I thought we would need more than one run.
"Not having Kelsey will be a big loss, but we're going to work hard to get back here next year.
In the bottom of the fifth, Morgan Bailey, Cassidy Hackney and Williams singled to load the bass. That brought up Haley Reynolds, who blasted a grand slam.
"Daniel Boone is a good hitting team so I knew we needed more runs,'' Reynolds said. "I was just looking for something that I could hit the crap out of.''
Williams and Lanham had three hits each for the Lady Trojans. Jessie Wheelock had Daniel Boone's (50-6) only hit.
Soddy-Daisy ended the season 46-5 and will have a chance to move up from No. 22 in the ESPN Rise FAB 50 national rankings.
"We were not supposed to be as good as we are, but we put a lot of work in at the end of the season,'' Kirk said. "They came through up here this week. I hope we'll be back next year.''
Kirk said he doesn't know how much longer he will keep coaching.
"It's getting close, real close,'' he said. "My wife is about to kill me because I don't spend any time at home. But I still enjoy my time coaching. I'm not committing on anything yet.''
When Nunley was hurt two years ago, Tori Denayer, then a freshman, pitched in the championship game. The ball will be handed to her next year.
"Things will have to change because I haven't been pitching much,'' Denayer said. "I'll have to work hard all summer. I think I can do it. I know I can do it.''
In five state-tournament games, Nunley gave up three runs. She had three shutouts.
"This is what I have worked for my entire life,'' Nunley said. "This is a dream come true. I want to thank my family, my teammates, coaches, everybody for this.
"This is great but bittersweet. I'm going to miss everybody. I love being from Soddy-Daisy.''
Nunley will be pitching next year for the University of Kentucky.
BOXSCORE
SODDY-DAISY HIGH SCH 7 DANIEL BOONE HIGH SC 0
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
CASSIDY HACKNEY 3b......... 4 2 1 1 JENNINE DUNCAN rf.......... 2 0 0 0
OLIVIA WILLIAMS 2b......... 4 1 3 2 MEGAN GUINN rf............ 0 0 0 0
HALEY REYNOLDS 1b.......... 4 1 1 4 JESSIE WHEELOCK ss......... 3 0 1 0
BRITTANY LANHAM dh......... 3 0 3 0 NATALIE SHEFFEY cf......... 2 0 0 0
JORDAN DUNCAN pr.......... 0 0 0 0 ANDREA ROGERS 3b........... 3 0 0 0
SHANA WARD dh............. 0 0 0 0 KAYLA SANDERS c............ 3 0 0 0
SAVANNAH MOORE rf.......... 2 0 0 0 KELLIE WAYCASTER p/dh...... 2 0 0 0
LAUREN SMITH rf........... 0 0 0 0 JENNA CARMODY p........... 1 0 0 0
HANNAH SMITH lf............ 1 0 0 0 KAYLA SMITH 1b............. 2 0 0 0
JESSICA BARBEE lf......... 1 0 0 0 MEREDITH GOOD 1b.......... 1 0 0 0
JESSICA BOLES ss........... 3 1 0 0 MCKENZIE FERGUSON dh/p..... 1 0 0 0
TORI DENAYER cf............ 3 1 1 0 TAYLOR ROBINSON lf........ 1 0 0 0
ABBY WALKER cf............ 1 0 0 0 HANNAH MONTOYA 2b.......... 2 0 0 0
MORGAN BAILEY c............ 4 0 1 0 ALLISON LITTLETON 2b...... 0 0 0 0
BROOKE HALE pr/ss......... 1 1 0 0 ALLSION SHEFFEY lf......... 1 0 0 0
KELSEY NUNLEY p............ 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 31 7 10 7 Totals..................... 24 0 1 0
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
SODDY-DAISY HIGH SCH 030 400 0 - 7 10 2
DANIEL BOONE HIGH SC 000 000 0 - 0 1 2
-----------------------------------------
E - HACKNEY; BOLES; FERGUSON; MONTOYA. LOB - TROJANS 8; BLAZERS 5. 3B - WILLIAMS. HR
- REYNOLDS. HBP - DUNCAN. SH - MOORE. SB - MOORE; WHEELOCK; MONTOYA.
SODDY-DAISY HIGH SCH IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
KELSEY NUNLEY ............. 7.0 1 0 0 1 12 0 0 1 0 24 26 7 2
DANIEL BOONE HIGH SC IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
KELLIE WAYCASTER .......... 4.0 9 6 6 2 1 0 0 0 0 21 24 7 4
MCKENZIE FERGUSON ......... 3.0 1 1 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 10 12 3 2
JENNA CARMODY ............. 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
HBP - by NUNLEY (DUNCAN).
Strikeouts - REYNOLDS; SMITH,H.; BARBEE; BAILEY; DUNCAN; SHEFFEY,N. 2; ROGERS 2;
SANDERS; WAYCASTER; SMITH; GOOD; ROBINSON; MONTOYA; SHEFFEY,A.. Walks - WARD;
SMITH,L.; SMITH,H. 2; SHEFFEY,N..
Umpires -
Start: 11:00 Time: Attendance:
(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)
Soddy-Daisy's Lady Trojans won their eighth state softball championship Saturday in Murfreesboro.
- Photo2 by Stan Crawley